Corruption a Mere Symptom: The Disease is Unbridled Greed – Kobad Ghandy

The IPL scam, the CWG scam, the 2G spectrum scam, the  foodgrain/BPL/NREGA scams, Adarsh housing scam, the Satna land scam, the Citibank scam, the insurance scam, the P.J. Thomas/ palmolein scam, theYediyurappa land scams, the Prasar Bharati scam, Balakrishnan/NHRC chairman scam, the IMA Modi scam—the list is endless and growing by the day. Involved are senior politicians and Ministers, top bureaucrats, top military personnel, top media moguls, top corporate houses—all the pillars of the existing establishment. Involved are the ex-Chiefs of the Staff of the military, the CEO of Prasar Bharati, the head of the NHRC (Human Rights Commission), the head of the Central Vigilance Commission, the chiefs of the CII (Confederation of Indian Industries). The very topmost watchdog bodies appointed—vigilance, human rights, propaganda etc.—are themselves fraudsters. What protection from human rights violations and frauds can one expect from such elements? But the more the corrupt, the more servile they will be to the government, acting as a tool in their hands. How can the people of the country expect any justice with such elements at the very top? And quite obviously they will appoint only their types/cronies below them—taking the rot deep into the social fabric.

But, what is getting exposed is only the tip of the iceberg of the putrified muck underneath. The garbage consists of a gigantic Rs 28 lakh crores ($ 670 billion) of illegal funds generated every year—year in and year out. A good percentage of this is siphoned off abroad, draining the country’s wealth. During a recent Supreme Court hearing the figure stashed abroad was said to be unbelievable, that is, $ 1.4 trillion (Rs 630 lakh crores). It is estimated that the black money amounts to 40-50 per cent of the GDP (Rs 25 lakh crores). Together with this, the illicit flow of funds from India abroad increased from 0.5 per cent of the GDP in 2000 to 2.4 per cent in 2004—a near five fold increase in just four years. At a fraction of this rate of increase the figure would be at least five per cent today—or Rs 3 lakh crores.

It is this huge mass of funds generated each year that is corrupting the entire life-line of the country, draining its enormous wealth, and an important factor for the mass impoverisation of the people. With such vast sums of money being siphoned off by the rich and powerful can one expect real development of the country? Is it then not surprising that all development, and wealth creation benefit just a few and not the country and its people.

The solution is simple—demonetise all notes suddenly of Rs 500/Rs 1000 denomination and get back the illegal funds stacked in tax havens, like the Swiss banks. But, there is no will to act. The government says it has no funds; when the Supreme Court tells them to distribute grains rather than let them rot, that is the refrain; when the NAC (National Advisory Council) suggests a highly watered down Food Security Bill, that again is the refrain; when the NAC suggests a minimum wage for the NREGA linked to the Minimum Wages Act, again this is the refrain. In fact whenever any money is suggested for the poor—there is always talk of no money, growing fiscal deficit etc. But, if even a small fraction of these huge illegal funds are tapped, poverty can be removed overnight. The richness of our land, water and natural resources would see our country bloom like the Garden of Eden.

But, the arrogance of power, and a pliable media to cover up the muck is destroying our rich, beautiful country bit by bit. Let alone a decrease in corruption, which was said to be a product of the licence-permit raj, it has increased by leaps and bounds since the supposed liberalisation

In the 1980s there were just eight major scams including Bofors (Rs 64 crores). But, in Manmohan Singh’s tenure as the Finance Minister it sky-rocketed to 26. Now, in his period as the Prime Minister of India, it is breaking all records. According to a recent BBC poll, India is one of the most corrupt countries in the world. And ironically, the supposed upholders of the law—the police—is, according to the poll, the most corrupt of them all. Chekov’s story Chameleon would be an apt description of our police force. So, when the law ‘upholders’ are the most lawless, what can be expected? And when people who themselves are implicated in scams, are appointed as the Central Vigilance Commissioner, Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, etc—to whom can the common man turn to for justice?

Where will all this end? Our forefathers, who gave their lives to free our country from British colonial rule, would turn in their graves to see the rot in our country today… More have died in farmers’ suicides, than those that died during the horrendous Bengal Famine. And even worse than in colonial rule, those who speak the truth and stand for justice are threatened and locked up; while those who loot the nation roam freely—nay, they are the pillars of society.

Today, dishonesty, fraud, deceit are the norm for those in power; truth is sacrificed at the altar of greed, avarice, nepotism and injustice. The mainline media TV channels have become the main vehicles of falsehood; politics is mostly hypocrisy and lies; and even religion has been corrupted beyond recognition to serve self-interest. Our leaders wish the nation on the occasion of Dusshera and other such festivals saying they symbolize the struggle of good over evil. Yet, what are practised are the promotion of evil and the suppression of good. Gigantic scams, loot of the treasury, etc., are ignored, nay encouraged, while service to the poor and oppressed is treated as treason.

While all swear by their respective religions, few follow their actual tenets. The Atharva Veda clearly says that when man, ignoring the dictum of the true Vedic religion falls in the grip of greed, he hoards more than he needs and the avarice of hoarding more and more makes him snatch the rights of others—nay his own brothers—and thus he stoops to suck the blood of his brothers. It adds that avarice is at the root of all evils. Poetically put, it says:

“Earn with hundreds of hands

And distribute with thousands.”

—19-62-1

Both Jesus Christ and Mohammad fought for the poor and oppressed throughout their lives. The Bible says: “The Righteous shall inherit the Earth”, and adds: “Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven”. The Koran says: “Allah has enjoined justice and righteousness…” And of all religions the Sikh religion is the most social; portraying the epitome of all that is good and just, in selflessness, virtuous conduct, etc. as the ideal Sikh, the Granth Saheb says: “God’s riches are for all, but man tries to grab them for themselves.” And Zoroastrianism stands for purity in our values practising good thoughts, good words and good deeds—the struggle of good over evil is portrayed in the victory in the of Ahura Mazda over Angra Mainya.

All religions advocate compassion for our fellow beings. While those who run this system say they stand for one or other religion, how can they be so insensitive to the mass of our people who live on a mere Rs 20 per day? How can they ignore the fact where 20,000 farmers are being forced to commit suicide every year and 1362 die every day from accidents and suicide, where malnutrition kills 56,000 children annually in our urban slums; and where crores and crores live in hunger, disease and degradation. While proclaiming religion (to fool themselves and the rest of the world), their core values are with the devil, dressed up as angels. They may maim and massacre lakhs through their evil policies; they may incarcerate thousands (and even kill) those who stand up for truth and justice; they may amass crores through illegal means; but one fine day they will meet their nemesis.

Now let us turn to some of the major scams. As much has been said about the 2G spectrum, CWG etc., we will not touch on these any further, but the scams that snatch food from crores of hungry mouths and that involve those in the armed forces—that is, those who are supposed to be most patriotic in defending our country.

More Criminal than 2G

THE scam in foodgrain distribution to the poorest of the poor and in the MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Employment Guarantee Act) and other such poverty alleviation schemes goes well beyond the 2G scam, but little is said about it. And that in the armed forces involve the very top Chiefs of Staff. Let us take a brief look at these.

Scam in ‘Poverty Alleviation’

The Times of India reported that the UPA’s food- grain scam could be even larger than the 2G spectrum scam—anything up to Rs 2 lakh crores. The report adds: It spreads across five countries including Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, South Africa and Bhutan. It involves 450 class I government officials and another 800 middle and lower level subordinates, apart from some 10,000 private entities. The scam comprised the sale of foodgrains meant for the PDS system and other special schemes for the BPL—NREGA, Antyodaya Yojana and mid-day meal scheme— to private entities while in the government records it is shown as “distributed”. Just two days earlier the same newspaper reported “Central Scheme to feed the hungry in shambles”. Based on a Supreme Court appointed commissioner’s survey it was found there was fraud in every aspect of the distribution of food- grains to the BPL families. It was found that less than the quota is allocated; people pay more to the ration shop than the stipulated rate; they are given less grains than their quota; and that there is fraud in the records kept (a discrepancy between the figure in the ration shop books and that on the ration card). In other words, the poor are cheated at every step. The report added that the discrepancies were so widespread and shockingly blatant, that the survey teams thought the people were making a mistake.

Every month over 4.2 million tonnes of rice and wheat are allotted by the Central Govern-ment for distribution, through roughly five lakh fair price shops. In fact a survey alone by the Planning Commission in 2004 said that 58 per cent of subsidised foodgrains did not reach the BPL families and 36 per cent grains got sold in the black market.

Then again in a Supreme Court ruling on the gross misuse of the NREGA funds in Orissa the Chief Justice if India said: “We want action. These things must stop. The allegations are of a serious nature on diversion of funds and non—implementation of NREGA.” The report on a PIL said: “Out of Rs 733 crores spent in Orissa during 2006-07, more than Rs 500 crores has been siphoned off and pocketed by government officials.” The CJI added: “The findings of the CEFS (Centre for Environment and Food Security) are shocking, scandalous and outrageous. There is open looting of taxpayers’ money, plunder of the poor people’s right to guaranteed wage employment for 100 days and pillage of every single norm of democratic governance and administrative accountability.” In fact, as per the NSS figures in the NREGA, only 50 per cent of jobs claimed to have been created by the government, seem to have actually been created.

A study conducted a few years ago revealed that the foodgrain wastage at various stages is 9.33 per cent of production. This amounted to a massive 18.94 million tonnes, which could feed 140 crore people for one month. The government claims they have taken the country into the advanced world. Then why cannot it do such a simple task as protect the foodgrains it purchases and stores every year? And to add insult to injury, over Rs 2 crores is spent by the government to get rid of the rotten grain!!

From all this it is clear that even food meant for the starving and funds meant for employ-ment amounting to thousands of crores are being siphoned off by politicians, officials, dalals, traders, etc. who make a killing off people’s deprivation. What could be more inhuman than stealing foodgrains from a starving man’s house, knowing full well the children will go hungry and their very growth will be stunted—leading to malnutrition, disease and even death? But this is precisely what is happening on a mass scale. Yet there is no accountability, no action, little media coverage—it is a non-issue. Probably even the CJI’s scathing judgement will also have little effect.

 Scam in the Armed Forces

The skeletons keep falling out of the cupboard. The Indian Express, January 12, 2011, reported that the Southern Army Commander has accused the ex-Army Chief, Deepak Kapoor, together with the then Union Minister (Rao Inderjit Singh) of selling one acre of prime land in Mumbai to the private builder of the Kalpataru group. The list of frauds in the top echelons of the armed forces seems to be never ending.

They seem to be acting more as mercenaries than defenders of our country. And when one reads reports not only of officers killing innocents and passing them off as Pak-infiltrators—to gain promotions—and even killing the young officer who was witness to this… one realises the rot has gone deep.

The newspapers have been bringing out the deep levels of corruption in the armed forces, with officers making money from petty purchases, like eggs, liquor, petrol, shoes… anything, to items like arms, land etc. The huge defence budget of the taxpayers’ money is being looted left, right and centre. And not a word is raised as this is supposedly to go to defend the country. Let us then take a look at just a few scams which have come out.

In 2006, a Major General was court martialled for making Rs 10 lakhs through the sale of liquor. In the Northern Command Rs 1 crore was made in egg and tent purchases. There was also the Rs 5 crore fraud in the purchase of milk powder for the Siachen jawans and the Rs 1 crore fraud in the purchase of clothes for them. Then there was the Rs 1 crore fraud in purchasing sub-standard shoes. Seventytwo officers are under inquiry for the illegal purchase/sale of arms at the Rajasthan border.

The list could go on and on, but the most criminal was when 328 jawans are reported to have died on the Siachen glacier when they were sent water instead of petrol. And even greater ‘patriotism’ was shown when vast amounts were made in the purchase of sub-standard coffins for jawans killed in the Kargil war. And now even greater patriotism is being shown by the three ex-Army Chiefs of Staff who have cornered flats meant for the Kargil widows. In the Adarsh housing scam flats in Mumbai’s prime location, Colaba, were cornered by top military officials, including ex-Army Chiefs, Deepak Kapoor and N.C. Vij, and ex-Naval Chief Madhvendra Singh. The flats, valued in crores, were given for a pittance.

In the Eastern Command, for the first time ever, orders have been given for the court martial of two Lt. Generals and severe criticism of a Major General in the Sukhna land scam.

Besides these that have come to light, little is known about the huge commissions on the millions of dollars worth military purchases. Except for the Rs 4000 crores commission said to have been taken in the purchase of Barack Missiles, HDW submarines etc., and the Bofors deal, not much else is yet known.

Such high levels of corruption at the top echelons of the armed forces not only shows utter contempt for the ordinary jawan killed in the battlefield but also scant regard for the huge amounts of the taxpayers’ money utilized. With the government all set to purchase over $ 100 billion (Rs 5 lakh crores) military equipment in the next few years, even at a mere five per cent kickback rate, a gigantic Rs 20,000 crores of taxpayers’ money is likely to be siphoned off. And yet the Supreme Court is told, the government has no funds for food grains to the poor!

Military columnists have been waxing eloquent about their patriotism, accusing others, but are now surprisingly silent regarding their nefarious deeds. Here too these scams are not exceptions; they are more the rule… One can expect more skeletons falling out of the cupboard, with the stakes so high.

Scams and ‘National Interest’

THE foodgrains and armed forces scams should be treated with the utmost seriousness as the former impacts the lives of crores of our people, while the latter has a direct bearing on what all is being perpetrated under a hawkish national security policy with the blessings of the US and Israel. To gloss over them, as the politicians and media are doing, will have serious repercussions for the future.

But not only these, others too have a bearing on the larger interest of the people. Take the Rs 70,000 crore CWG scam. Not only the reports of gigantic corruption, but also falling bridges and roofs, incomplete preparations, filthy accommo-dation with cobras popping up every now and then, and finally a Games played to empty stands. We showcased a rising ‘Super Power’ of corruption, fraud, incompetence and inefficiency. The fraud and nepotism had been going on for five years under King Kalmadi and his close circle of cronies, but not a word was raised until it all came out in the open on the eve of the event. Yet till today, Kalmadi has not been touched. After all, he was given three to four months to cover his tracks before the inquiry was appointed by the PM, and even longer before being questioned.