Politics is a broader term derived from 'politikos'which means engaged in the civic life or goverance. It,therefore , involves certain principles which govern our social and political life.In the beginning politics was mainly associated with the activities of the State however later on it became a set of policy matters related with a particular ideology.It further changed its meaning in democratic set up where it meant following a particular ideology.
In India the evolution of politics is associated with growth of political States and Chanayaka was a great political thinker of ancient times.His political formulations are assets.Later on politics became more related to a particular king and therefore,for a long period politics mainly meant state policies.Common people have no role in politics and they merely followed what the State prescribed for them.
In modern day politics gained importance with the growth and expansion of democracy.However, it is this setup of the governance which also allowed politics to be twisted and it also provided opportunities for corruption to get in the politics.Now a days politics and corruption are treated as synonymous and the biggest challenge of democracy is to get politics free from corruption. Now question arises what brings corruption into the politics.Is it the power or authority that is enjoyed while being in the politics?Or is it the system itself which pumps and promotes corruption in politics?Anwers to these questions may vary in numbers but both of these are equally responsible for linkage between politics and corruption.Our system gets eroded by falling values which in turn promotes corruption in all the walks if life and politics being one of them.
It is equally true that corruption also exists in other countries and in other forms of government but our main focus will be growing political corruption in India.The issue of corruption erupted even before India got independence but during those days under current of social and political evolution was so strong that it didn't allowed corruption to grow disproportionately. The mainstream leaders were strong enough to foresee possible chances of being corrupt and therefore, they developed safeguards against such situations and possibilities.However practically everything that has happened in the independence era has afforded greater incentives to ,as well as opportunities for corruption,particularly large scale graft by the politicians and bureaucracts and this tendency continued to downflow. According to Gurnnar Myrdal, "Corruption is fundamentally nothing but one specific manifestation of the soft state. It is the general setting of the soft state that makes corruption possible, while, circular causation with cumulative effects, the prevalence of corruption is a mighty influence to keep these countries soft as states." After independence politicians for the first time realized that for being in the power it is important is to hold power.It gave rise to a nexus between politicians and bureaucracts.They adopted a common method of exploiting the position of public responsibility for private gain ie the threat of obstruction and delay.Hence, corruption impedes the process of decision making and execution programms on all the levels. It increases the need for controls to check the dishonest officials at the same time makes the honest officials reluctant to take decision on their own.
Now the third dimension to the issue of corruption is the system of election under democracy.To be in power ,it is necessary to get elected.Since for fighting election there is no state funding ,hence private capital and black money become an essential part of modern elections.Since funds needed to fight election are huge ,here comes the business and corporate class ready to provide funds to the politicians but it has its own cost ie political leverage in projects clearance and framing policies suitable to their interests.K.G.Basin story is a good example of it where a corporate sector made huge gains by manipulating goveronment policies .Going by a very modest calculation ,a parliament election will cost nothing less than 200 crores and a state assembly election will cost a member around 50 to 75 crores. From where this money will come. Either from corruption or from the sources which will make a leader corrupt.Even parties like AAP and Communist are finding it very difficult to control election budgets.Therefore, it will not be exaggeration to say that elections are both means and ends of corruption in India.There are many leaders today who are etheir convicted on corruption charges or facing corruption charges.The massive wealth disclosed by CBI and other investigsting agencies are eye opener.UPA II is more known for scandles and corruption cases than its achievements.The massive state revenue cheating and loot in 3G,Coalgate Commonwealth Games are shocking.It seems that our political system has become prone to such scandles.
Now what is the way out of fighting out corruption in developing countries? How can we protect our system free from the power elite.What we are facing today ,in general,it becomes very difficult to attack corruption through an anti corruption drive because if alarge section of our society including politicians,officials and businessmen are out to make the short term gains from corruption. However be strong the angry protests of lower and middle class it is difficult in short run to eradicate corruption from our general life.The Power Structure that had evolved in last 300 years needs to be changed either through evolution or through revolution. It is the reason why all efforts made from time to time by parties like AAP and social groups and media have a short life.All that they are trying to do is to create awareness among the people that corruption has entered into our lifestyle.It is very important to note that too much of the government control is the root cause of corruption but we are not sure that liberalization will bring great changes as it has happened in the Western countries.We need liberalism but what we need more than anything is enlightened political and business classes who will be ready to bear the responsibility of making the country in the corruption free.Till then Jai Hind.
In India the evolution of politics is associated with growth of political States and Chanayaka was a great political thinker of ancient times.His political formulations are assets.Later on politics became more related to a particular king and therefore,for a long period politics mainly meant state policies.Common people have no role in politics and they merely followed what the State prescribed for them.
In modern day politics gained importance with the growth and expansion of democracy.However, it is this setup of the governance which also allowed politics to be twisted and it also provided opportunities for corruption to get in the politics.Now a days politics and corruption are treated as synonymous and the biggest challenge of democracy is to get politics free from corruption. Now question arises what brings corruption into the politics.Is it the power or authority that is enjoyed while being in the politics?Or is it the system itself which pumps and promotes corruption in politics?Anwers to these questions may vary in numbers but both of these are equally responsible for linkage between politics and corruption.Our system gets eroded by falling values which in turn promotes corruption in all the walks if life and politics being one of them.
It is equally true that corruption also exists in other countries and in other forms of government but our main focus will be growing political corruption in India.The issue of corruption erupted even before India got independence but during those days under current of social and political evolution was so strong that it didn't allowed corruption to grow disproportionately. The mainstream leaders were strong enough to foresee possible chances of being corrupt and therefore, they developed safeguards against such situations and possibilities.However practically everything that has happened in the independence era has afforded greater incentives to ,as well as opportunities for corruption,particularly large scale graft by the politicians and bureaucracts and this tendency continued to downflow. According to Gurnnar Myrdal, "Corruption is fundamentally nothing but one specific manifestation of the soft state. It is the general setting of the soft state that makes corruption possible, while, circular causation with cumulative effects, the prevalence of corruption is a mighty influence to keep these countries soft as states." After independence politicians for the first time realized that for being in the power it is important is to hold power.It gave rise to a nexus between politicians and bureaucracts.They adopted a common method of exploiting the position of public responsibility for private gain ie the threat of obstruction and delay.Hence, corruption impedes the process of decision making and execution programms on all the levels. It increases the need for controls to check the dishonest officials at the same time makes the honest officials reluctant to take decision on their own.
Now the third dimension to the issue of corruption is the system of election under democracy.To be in power ,it is necessary to get elected.Since for fighting election there is no state funding ,hence private capital and black money become an essential part of modern elections.Since funds needed to fight election are huge ,here comes the business and corporate class ready to provide funds to the politicians but it has its own cost ie political leverage in projects clearance and framing policies suitable to their interests.K.G.Basin story is a good example of it where a corporate sector made huge gains by manipulating goveronment policies .Going by a very modest calculation ,a parliament election will cost nothing less than 200 crores and a state assembly election will cost a member around 50 to 75 crores. From where this money will come. Either from corruption or from the sources which will make a leader corrupt.Even parties like AAP and Communist are finding it very difficult to control election budgets.Therefore, it will not be exaggeration to say that elections are both means and ends of corruption in India.There are many leaders today who are etheir convicted on corruption charges or facing corruption charges.The massive wealth disclosed by CBI and other investigsting agencies are eye opener.UPA II is more known for scandles and corruption cases than its achievements.The massive state revenue cheating and loot in 3G,Coalgate Commonwealth Games are shocking.It seems that our political system has become prone to such scandles.
Now what is the way out of fighting out corruption in developing countries? How can we protect our system free from the power elite.What we are facing today ,in general,it becomes very difficult to attack corruption through an anti corruption drive because if alarge section of our society including politicians,officials and businessmen are out to make the short term gains from corruption. However be strong the angry protests of lower and middle class it is difficult in short run to eradicate corruption from our general life.The Power Structure that had evolved in last 300 years needs to be changed either through evolution or through revolution. It is the reason why all efforts made from time to time by parties like AAP and social groups and media have a short life.All that they are trying to do is to create awareness among the people that corruption has entered into our lifestyle.It is very important to note that too much of the government control is the root cause of corruption but we are not sure that liberalization will bring great changes as it has happened in the Western countries.We need liberalism but what we need more than anything is enlightened political and business classes who will be ready to bear the responsibility of making the country in the corruption free.Till then Jai Hind.
No comments:
Post a Comment