Honesty Is Indivisible
Arun Kumar
CESP, SSS, JNU.
The Hindu, January 29, 2011.
The Indian ruling
class has faced its severest crisis of credibility in 2010. Its past has caught
up with it and skeletons/scams are spilling out of its closets. The scams have
a symbiotic relationship with the black economy. The number of scams is growing
and so is the size of the black economy which has now reached a mind boggling 50%
of the GDP, that is, it annually generates Rs.33 lakh crores of black incomes. While
the Eighties saw 8 major scams, in the period 1991 - 96 there were 26 and in
2005-08, there were around 150.
There has
been an exponential growth in the average amount of money involved in each
scam. Bofors was the biggest scam of the Eighties and at an estimated Rs.64
crores it was dwarfed by the Harshad Mehta scam in 1992 involving a loss of
about Rs.3,000 crores (Jankiraman Committee Report). Many felt this was a gross
underestimate. In the
period between 1991 and 1999, about 2,500 new companies floated in the stock
markets disappeared with public money much like the robber barons of the USA
The Satyam scam
in 2009 is estimated to be upwards of Rs.7,500 crores. The losses due to the
mining operations in Bellary
Clearly,
not only the number of scams is growing but the money lost by the public per
scam is increasing exponentially. Minor scams hardly draw public attention even
though they affect the citizen’s daily life, like, exam paper leak, rotting food
grain, police recruitment and so on.
The other major
recent scams pertain to, Adarsh Society, Commonwealth Games, Madhu Koda, Citi
Bank fraud, charges against former Chief Justices of India, impeachment
proceedings against two High Court judges, the PF scam investigations against
HC judges in UP, Medical Council of India fraud, Deemed Universities imbroglio,
IPL manipulations, Sukna Land scam involving some of the senior most Army
officers and so on. The list is endless.
Bofors and
the Quattrochi affair were on the verge of closure for obvious reasons but have
erupted in a big way with the ITAT order implying that bribes were paid. The
cases against Lalu, Mulayam, Mayawati and other former CMs and Ministers are on
the back burner leading to charges of political misuse of the CBI. There is
hardly an agency of the government that retains its credibility in the public
eye. So, eight agencies are investigating the 2G scam but there is demand for a
JPC not that the earlier 4 JPCs achieved much but the hope is that a determined
opposition could ferret out the truth under public pressure.
Reports
that the Emergency papers are not traceable, the Home Minister’s admission that
the Bhopal papers in the Anderson fiasco are missing, the indictment of Vedanta
by the Saxena committee report investigating illegal mining in Niyamagiri hills
all point to a system that has been so manipulated by the crooked businessmen
and the pliant politicians and the executive that it is collapsing under its own
weight.
Today,
policy failure is writ large and governance is failing all around. This due to
the growth of the black economy from about 4% of GDP in 1955-56 to the present
50%. The implication is that illegality in the country has grown and touches almost
every economic activity. This is only possible if it is both systemic and
systematic. The public and the private sectors, encompassing every section of
society is now suspect that they have their hands in the till - Prime
Ministers, Chief Ministers, Ministers, top industrialists, military personnel,
judges, bureaucrats, police men, professionals and so on.
For
illegality to flourish on such a vast scale, those involved in overseeing the
functioning of society have to be systematically complicit. It cannot be that
one day rules are broken but not the next. Systems have been set in place to
routinely commit illegality and make pay offs to the functionaries of the state.
For instance, police collect hafta and posts of SHO are sold. Industry plans
evasion of output much in advance of the production. Thus, tax rates and
controls are immaterial.
Underlying
this vast illegality is a `Triad’ between the corrupt business class, the
political class and the executive. Since the mid eighties, the criminal has
entered this Triad leading to growing criminalization. Businessmen, legislators
and so on have criminal cases against them. Policemen commit criminality in a
routine way and so on. For such a system a Binayak Sen who points fingers at
them becomes an anti-national; what a shame?
The growing
rot over the last six decades has been exposed by the Radia tapes. They reveal
how illegality has become a routine matter for the ruling elite. Glib talk of “15%
man” or fixing cabinet appointments is not just idle gossip. Those manipulating
the system have known this and much more but the value of Radia tapes is that
there is confirmation of what the public could only guess till now. The tapes confirm
the functioning of the Triad.
The lack of
independence of media biggies who are now like businessmen stood exposed with
the expose of paid news but is out in the open more clearly. Their link with the
manipulative system and cosy relations with favourite businessmen and
politicians are in the open. Those not yet exposed feign surprise and try to
cover up for their colleagues by suggesting that media is not powerful enough
to fix things - another fix.
Rivalries
amongst politicians, businessmen and media groups have helped lift the veil
just a bit and even that is hugely damaging to the state. Those exposed shamelessly
deny wrong doing hoping that they would be eventually bailed out since those in
glass houses cannot afford to throw stones. They feel that they can cover up
and can deny wrongdoing till the last as in the case of the Commonwealth scam or
the 2G scam. Legal delays, threats and political and money power come into play
to keep truth under the wraps (the Bofors case remains shrouded in mystery since
1987).
The ruling class
knows how to manipulate the system (as in the Rathore case). This is feasible since
most of the investigation mechanism and wings of judiciary are pliable. Cases
can be spoiled deliberately as the Courts have often lamented. Further, the Radia
tapes reveal that our intelligence and investigative agencies know a lot about
the wheelings and dealings of the Triad but this information is not made public.
The moot
point is whether these agencies have been reporting what they dig out to the
higher authorities who should keep the PM briefed? If not, there is a failure
of the systems. Alternatively, if the PM knew but did not act is he also
complicit? Either way one can infer that scams are allowed to take place. It is
also known that information is politically used viz.-a-viz. the opponents and
friends. Further, how many more scams are currently taking place about which the
PM may know but about which he maybe keeping his own counsel.
Is honesty
divisible between financial, social and political matters? Can one be financially
honest but not in the other spheres? Is it honesty that scams are allowed to
take place but one personally does not take any money? Honesty is not just
individual but systemic and if the number of scams grow in size and numbers can
the head of government escape responsibility given the huge social and
political consequences. The scams do not just lead to financial losses but to policy
failure (like, the current high food inflation) whose cost is a multiple of the
direct financial loss. Honesty has to be indivisible!
(