While political speech in India is mired in the ’70s doublespeak jargon, agitations too are stuck in between the Independence struggle and the strident trade unionism of the ’80s.

Sample some of the battle cries used even today:

Agitations in India are held at the drop of a hat. Be it for hike in pay, increase in allowance, regularisation of jobs, back wages of sick PSUs, accident compensation, shortages in public utilities, venting public anger against price rise etc. Like a broken record, on and on, the slogans are repeated. Often those voicing them do not even comprehend what they mean. Just about anything from sublime to nonsense for which a case can be made out for government intervention, is worthy of an agitation.

The various methods used for agitation are:  strike, fasting, slogan shouting, effigy burning,  ’gherao’ , ‘dharna’, ‘bandh’, ’satyagraha’, rallies, token arrest, protest march, burning tyres, damaging government property, burning buses, smashing cars, obstructing railways, stone pelting  etc. From being largely instinctive earlier they have all now been reduced to well choreographed, carefully orchestrated, skillfully enacted pieces of drama. Effigy burning, slogan shouting, ‘Gherao’,'dharna’ are all played to the gallery with majority of action reserved for the camera.  Token arrests likewise feature a bout of spirited slogan shouting, jostling with the Police, then being packed into buses, detained at a playground and ultimately being let off as if returning from a day long picnic. The efficacy of these hackneyed forms of agitation in fulfilling their desired goals is declining by the day, forcing people to use even more violence to cause greater disruption of public order. The one thing that is common to all forms of agitation though is  public hardship. The targets of the public anger on the other hand are rarely, if ever  put to inconvenience.

Agitations are in a desperate need for innovation. The need for innovation is driven by growing public disenchantment with the means of agitation  as well as changes in the underlying assumptions on which most agitations are modeled.  Whereas earlier protests were meant to cripple the economy, causing financial losses to the British (or the businessmen) to eventually drive them to quit. The opponents now in our day to day battles are however not going anywhere else. The losses too return to haunt us eventually in the forms of botched up services, additional tax burden or rising prices. It is especially harsh on the daily wage earners whose wage loss may, at the end of the day, entail hungry stomachs. Biggest irony is that for a country that prides itself for having successfully used non violence to fight the foreigners, now freely uses violence and arson to fight against its own.

There have been minor innovations in the past such as begging bowl demonstrations, boot polish protests or even naked demonstrations – yet nothing has caught the public imagination. The only recent innovation that caused a flutter was ‘Gandhigiri‘ but that too seems to be fizzling out. We could do with a lot of new ideas on how to make the government responsive while causing minimum disruption. Ideas for new innovation could include an early start (possibly 6 AM instead of 10 AM) to a ’strike day’ ending in a symbolic protest. Other ideas could include switching off electricity at predetermined hour, declaring a protest to be ‘bicycle only’ day, or wearing clothes of the same color, or mass planting  of trees etc. The online protests meanwhile  will keep gathering steam from ‘Pink Chaddi‘ to Boobquake to the trending topics on Twitter. The next wave of agitation innovations will be driven by public acceptance shaped by media appreciation of ideas that harp on constructive engagement instead of public disruption.

‘Satyamev Jayate’, being the motto of the country has not stopped Indian politicians from mastering the art of doublespeak. Indian political discourse  is full of stonewalls, falsehoods, propaganda and disinformation.

Political speech in India is caught in a time warp. Reminiscent of the government controlled media days of  ’70s, it continues to be dotted with a unique set of phrases, patronized by the power elite, that are meant to hide more than they reveal. Worse they allow our politicians to lie though their teeth. Indiscriminate, repeated and moronic use of these phrases have beaten them hollow, so much so, that they have now come to mean the exact opposite of their literal meaning.

The coinage of the word ‘doublespeak’ is attributed to George Orwell and his famous novel Nineteen Eighty Four which used the word ‘doublethink’. ‘doublespeak’ means ‘ deliberate disguise, distortion, or reversal of the meaning of words‘. One of the most famous proponents of ‘doublespeak’ ( also called ‘doubletalk’) predating the coinage of the word itself was Dr. Goebbels, Hitler’s Propaganda Minister. In its present avatar, Indian politicos of all shades have embraced doublespeak with open arms. Such is its command over both the ruling and opposition think tanks, that straight talk has become a shortcut to oblivion for politicians in India. [recall the ordeals of Shahi Tharoor (Congress) and Jaswant Singh (BJP) ] Even mainline media and journalists, who are entrusted with the responsibility of exposing the doublespeak of politicians, choose to play ball with them. Their confrontationist attitude is a thing of the past. Despite mushroom growth in news channels, most find protective niches, aligning themselves with one benefactor or the other, leaving the public to fend for themselves.

Given below are some rich vignettes of doublespeak present in Indian political arena. Help us collate more such examples using the comments section down below or use twitter with #doublespeak hash tag.

• Law will take its own course actually means that it would go round and round forever without ever converging on the issue.
• We will look into the incident actually means that everyone will soon forget it.
• We will not leave the matter alone actually means that the matter will be given a silent burial.
• A commission of inquiry has been instituted to probe the allegations expeditiously actually means that the case will stretch for ever and no action will be taken.
• I have nothing to hide actually means that though there are skeletons in my cupboard, all the investigation agencies are in my pocket.
• My life is an open book actually means that you may need an atomic microscope to read it.
• This is a political conspiracy of my opponents actually means that now that I have been caught with my pants down, I’ve no other recourse but to blame the opposition.
• Guilty will not be spared actually means that they will never be caught.
• Action will be taken if guilt is proved actually means that we will not act unless we are compelled.
• Foreign terrorist group xyz is behind the attack actually means that we have no clue, how to stop this.
• His departure is a deep loss to the country actually means that no one listened to him while he was alive, but we will now pay floral tributes and claim his legacy.
• Our sympathies are with bereaved families actually means that please make do with just our sympathies.
• I announce Rs. xxx as compensation to the victims’ family actually means that whether or not the family gets something, let me derive political mileage as if I am paying from my own pocket.
• Xyz Community has no or less representation in the cabinet actually means that I will not rest till I’m inducted into the cabinet.
• Cabinet is the Prime Ministerial prerogative actually means that it is hostage to the last guy who has a bargaining chip in government formation.
• All options are open actually means that we will go with the highest bidder.

[ Also read a brilliant satire by Ramesh Srivats on the lack of 'real answers' in Indian Politics -  The Alternate Press Conference of .... ]

If yes, then tell us about it. The fight against Corruption may well begin with simple acts of documentation.

For too long we have shied away from disclosing this very personal pain that most of us have to endure. Occasionally people pay a bribe to get something done out of turn or to get things hastened up . The blame in those cases is shared squarely between the one paying bribe and the one receiving it. But in most other cases, one is forced to pay a bribe because there is no other  alternative but to forgo the requested service. All we then do is to pay silently and forget about it. But now there is way to get back – by  creating a ‘virtual record’ of the the acts of bribe. The Bribe Rate Chart is an initiative to use our collective strength[ recall: Why Social Media can fight Corruption - Aggregation] to send a definitive signal to our ruling elite that Corruption is a problem that has to be dealt with expeditiously.

[recall: July 22, 2009, Corruption Unveiled]

“This blog aspires not just to become a forum for discussion to vent pent up anger. It also aims to become a means for gauging the level of corruption in society. One of the primary reasons for corruption to flourish is the utter secrecy associated with it. Everyone knows it is there but no one talks about it. Everything has got a price, they say. What if the price becomes known and the veil of secrecy is lifted? How about a live rate chart for bribes fueled by nationwide personal experience. Let us bring to bear the might of Social Media to unravel the corruption conundrum in India.”

The promise is now live in the form of a Bribe Rate Chart. This is a page to be built by the contributory knowledge of all you. You can directly add to the limited information provided on this page from the wealth your own personal experience or your private sources of information. Your inputs will shape this page. If however you find it difficult to add the information directly you may send us the information in either of the below three ways. We will then include the same in the ‘Bribe Rate Chart‘.

1. Send us via an email at tellus@nobribe.org. Please mention a) Department/ Designation b) Citizen Service c) Location d) Reference (explanation on the help page)

2. Tweet about what you want to add with #NoBribe hash tag.

3. Leave a comment at the bottom of the ‘Bribe Rate Chart’ post.

Its time now that together we force the hands of our democratic masters to deal with this problem. [recall: Obituary to Corruption]

Social Media platforms seem tailor made to fight Corruption. Many of their characteristics are ideally suited for building  a sustainable forum against Corruption.

Some of these favourable characteristics are:

a) Anonymity: A key factor that inhibits many people from exposing Corruption is the fear of retaliation. and how it will affect their day to day life. Social Media provides people with different shades of anonymity to suit individual comfort so that they can voice their opinions freely.  Online anonymity could vary from simply being a name without face  to the much more elaborate open web proxy servers used by the Iranian protesters.

b) Aggregation: This is a powerful tool available on Social Media that can be used to consolidate what is ‘common knowledge’ about Corruption. Consolidation gives information the credibility that it otherwise lacks and makes it difficult to ignore [recall: Obituary to Corruption]. @Gauravonomics refers to it as ‘Collective Intelligence’ in his The 4Cs Social Media Framework. Most common example of aggregation is Wikipedia, written by faceless multitudes, which is now widely used as reference material for a variety of topics.

c)  Interactivity: Public discourse has always been led by the vociferous  few. The silent majority simply endures and is unable to register its dissent. Social media gives voice to the silent majority and allows them to participate in a discussion rather than just be passive observers. ‘Like’,'Dislike’, ‘Share’, ‘Re Tweet’, ‘Bookmark’, ‘Comment’, ‘Poll Vote’ are all instruments  that can drive a new interactive and participative democracy. Those with more followers, fans, readers, subscribers will act as moderators in this interactive discussion.

d) Instantaneity: With growing use of Social Media on mobile, the ‘instantaneous’ factor can also be exploited to fight Corruption. Twitter has already stolen a march in this direction and there is a lot that can be done using such tools. [more on this in a separate post]

e) Viral: The viral nature of the medium makes it easier to spread the message – a task which is other wise beyond the reach of individuals or smaller groups in the physical world.

Despite all these positives, many of the historical negatives of Social Media still remain. Social Media evolved  from Social Networking which came into existence essentially as a ‘virtual  hanging out’ place for the young. So there is still a  preponderance of entertainment, sex, humour,  and the risqué on Social Media. In such an environment it is often difficult to find an audience for anything serious and substantive. [Refer to this Facebook page with 400K+ Fans as compared to our own  Corruption Free India page languishing with just 1.3K Fans] Anonymity too lends itself to spam and fraud where people assume fake identities and resort to spamming.  Many people still consider Social Media to be just a ’storm in the tea cup’ and doubt whether it can ever drive a change in the real life.  However things are bound to change. Even a virtual congregation does consist of real people (leaving aside ‘bots’) and a digital record is still a public record. There may be an impression that no one is listening, yet whenever something significant is said, it finds the audience as if from thin air. With all its imperfections, Social Media is still going to be the medium of choice for fighting Corruption because of the reasons enumerated earlier. With its growing clout evidenced by the rush of celebrities joining Social Media, exit of a Central Minister over charges leveled in Social Media and the growing use of Social Media to check ‘Social Reputation’ before hiring or even marrying, all point to the fact that time is now ripe for a greater use of Social Media in fighting Corruption.

Guest Post by Sivakumar Surampudi, Shiv’s Third Eye

When Sanjay asked me to write a guest post for “No Bribe” on its first anniversary, ironically, I wished I could write an obituary instead. Yes, an obituary for corruption, fulfilling the vision of his blog!

Buoyed by the recent economic growth, all of us have an aspiration to see India as a developed country soon. Investment in infrastructure is considered the best bet to get there. Probably, we will get some distance with that strategy; but, I submit, only rooting out corruption can actually get us to the finishing line. For, corruption has the evil ability to destroy the nation before any benefit of progress reaches the common man.

But corruption is neither a new nor a simple phenomenon to conceive of its ending! In fact, Vedas called corruption a hydra-headed monster! Its heads are bribery, exploitative profit, vested interest, naked selfish desires, hypocrisy in the form of false promises, pride, false ego and calumny. It also takes the other forms like, officiousness, sycophancy, treachery, wickedness etc. If not controlled with true knowledge containing permanent truths, it spreads very fast in politics, economics and various organs of the state and institutions of the society.

With such an overwhelming description, it is not possible to start exploring end of corruption. So, I chose a simpler definition articulated by Transparency International “the abuse of entrusted power for private gain”. Looking at it this way, the solution has just two components. Deal with power. Deal with gain.

One can deal with “power” by improving transparency and increasing accountability. Information Technology can improve transparency. We have experienced that from every day examples like railway ticket reservations to mega illustrations like public monitoring of Government projects. Media can play a key role in diffusing the power by raising awareness of people through investigative journalism. This helps instill fear among the corrupt, and also build courage among common people to fight corruption. Media can also show case ordinary people who fought and achieved extra ordinary things. Instead of feeling cynical and helpless, common man will then start blowing whistles! The common man could also be aided by novel tools of expression viz. our own examples such as Gandhigiri and Zero value currency notes or the famous Citizen Initiative for Constant Light from Turkey. Ultimately, the problem will be solved when democracy deals with corruption; after all Kahlil Gibran did say many years ago, “so the wrong-doer cannot do wrong without the hidden will of you all”…

Turning to dealing with “gain”, paying more to those in power is an obvious solution, whether it is done as is by raising pay levels, or hedge through performance based pay that is commonly used in business! In effect, what could be lost if caught while taking bribe, should be more than what one gains through that bribe for a job done. In reality, the playing field is more complex than that. The minds of some of the greedy Wall Street executives became corrupt not because they were underpaid. Nor do many positions of power operate as “markets” to design pay per performance. We need to invoke the social norms to deal with this more complex situation. Ethics & Values must find more emphasis in education. After all that’s where it all begins.

How do we deal with systemic corruption, that is deep rooted; almost institutionalised? Sequence and eliminate corruption sector by sector, start with education and taxation? Two sectors with potentially the biggest impact!

With three cheers to “No Bribe” on its first anniversary in accomplishing its mission….

Sivakumar

Sometime back, there was a high decibel campaign unleashed jointly by Aircel & WWF-India called ‘Save our Tigers‘ . The glitzy campaign, replete with TV spots of M.S. Dhoni, Baichung Bhutia, Kiran Bedi et al. & large hoardings sought to highlight the plea of depleting Tiger reserves and the dwindling number of Tigers in our country. Even the Prime Minister himself sent individual letters around the same time to all the Chief Minsters sensitizing them of the need to save Tigers. During the campaign though, I was constantly reminded of another species that is fast becoming extinct in our country – the Honest Man. No, I am not  just talking about politics and I don’t just mean figuratively. We are quite literally running out of honest men (and women). If you don’t believe me, try answering these two questions truthfully: a) How many truly honest men do you know personally? Isn’t your answer in low single digits. Even among our natural sanctuary of friends, family, teachers, doctors etc. it is difficult to find too many people who are truly honest.  b) What comes to your mind when you think of those honest individuals – aren’t they invariably old fashioned,out of touch with reality, tad eccentric, insufferable fools etc.

Slowly but surely our society is becoming less and less conducive for honest individuals (recall Corruption unveiled). Look at any government department – an honest man can be easily recognised as the one who is economically constrained, has the least number of ‘hangers on’, has had most number of transfers, and whose own colleagues don’t get along too well with him. Similar situation exists even in many private organisations too. If the default is not ‘dis-honesty’ yet it has certainly changed to ‘flexibility’. Inflexible adherence to principles is already a thing of the past.

The reasons for this are not too hard to find. More and more young ones today carry the weight of their parents’ and their families’ expectations. Cut throat competition at every level means that the straightest path is not the surest path to success. With all the emphasis on success, there is hardly any talk of morality and honesty. In such a pressure cooker environment means quickly become unimportant – donations, bribery, cheating, recommendations, falsification – anything goes, to reach the goal. Once there, one has then the obligation to pay back. This creates a vicious circle that is impossible to break.

Overall the societal values have undergone basic transformation . There is less and less pride in being Honest and less successful than in being Successful and less honest. In all walks of life, whether one is looking for a life partner, a friend or a guide, honesty is not a very sought after virtue. Numerous other qualities take precedence, with wealth and comfort occupying the center stage. Even within families, expectations now gravitate more towards wealth and comfort. There is lesser stigma of ‘ill gotten wealth’ as long as it can ensure an easy life. The fundamental question we face today is whether we should raise our children to live by the same values that we espoused earlier with all its impending consequences. Are we not then, raising them as misfits in a society which increasingly values success more than rectitude, net worth more than  integrity. These are important questions and we can hardly turn to any moral authority for guidance. The leaders of our nation have their hands full with multifarious problems that beset our nation and they are hardly in a position to provide any moral leadership. Ultimately the responsibility rests on all of us. Environmental concerns are of utmost importance but we also need to keep an eye on our moral values as we go along. With honesty becoming extinct at an alarming rate, time is not far off when an Honest Man (just like  a Tiger) would only be found in books – “Once upon a time there lived an honest man. His name was…..” . Lets spend time and ponder over this as it could mean a lot for our Children.

There are two main types of Corruption  based on its quantum – Petty Corruption faced by common man in his day to day life and Grand Corruption which takes place at higher levels. While the former is based predominantly on duress, the latter is more consensual and is driven by expectations of mutual gain. Out of the two, Grand Corruption is more difficult to measure as both parties have an interest in keeping things under cover.

Measurement of Corruption thus far, has been limited to measuring perception of Corruption (CPI). This is an indirect measure of Corruption where a sample of population is polled about their perception of the level of Corruption present in a region or service. Since the queries are general and have no reference to specific instances of Corruption, people are more forthcoming and the data is easier to collect. However as the data may or may not be based on ’self experience’, it is likely to vary wildly between real and imaginary. Also since there is also no correlation between when the bribe was paid and when the question was asked, so the responders are more likely to adjust their responses along expected lines with the passage of time. Hence  Perception while being an important indicator can not replace direct measurement of Corruption.

Direct Measurement of Corruption is a daunting task because of the cloud of secrecy and fear associated with it. The victims fear retaliation and the perpetrators have a vested interest in secrecy, leading to a quiet burial of the incident. So most often, any direct corruption data is difficult to obtain and its also more likely to be intentionally tampered . Yet this is an exercise that needs to be indulged into if only to form one of the several indicators in measuring Corruption.

Various approaches to measure Corruption directly may be suggested based on how other intractable quantities are measured.  One such model to measure petty Corruption based on Inflation, is discussed below:-

Inflation Model: As Inflation is measured on the basis of prices of a basket of goods and services, similarly a basket of public services that suffer from rampant corruption may be surveyed on a regularly basis to measure Corruption trends. The basket of services may consists of common services like a) Driving License b) Registration of new Company c) New Vehicle Registration d) Registration for Sales Tax e) Passport Application f) Issuance of ‘C’ Forms etc. Survey questionnaire should cover both the cost of obtaining the service (including legal fee, bribes paid and agent commission etc.) as well as the time taken to obtain the services. Those to be surveyed may be chosen randomly from the list of people who recently availed those services (example- A Harvard Study on Corruption in Driving Licenses). Such surveys should should be undertaken at regular intervals across various regions for each of the services in the basket. Data for the same service across various regions should be compared to find out if there are any location specific bottlenecks. The time duration for obtaining the services may act as an alternate indicator of Corruption trends. The collected data should be aggregated over time to yield a Corruption trend. While this model may fall short of giving an indication of the overall quantum of Corruption, it may be useful in determining the trends as well location specific anomalies.

Other models for measurement of Corruption may be built around Exit Polls or Confession Boxes.  Those who have recently paid bribes or are  likely to have paid a bribe, should be encouraged to anonymously disclose their bribes. Exit polling may be attempted discreetly near the places of service delivery.  Each of these models would require a lot of tweaking before they deliver credible results. Much of this initiative will have to come from the Private sector with the help of academics, media and corporates to make it work. Measuring corruption is also a lot about collective intent.  It will depend upon how serious we are we as a society to uproot this menace.

While searching for information on the scale of Corruption in India, one is struck by the amazing dearth of any credible information.

There are a whole host of scales and indexes for everything under the sun including the esoteric Business Confidence index, Human Development index, Happiness index to the more mundane such as Inflation, GDP, Government Approval ratings etc.
But for an all important issue like Corruption, the sole measure that exists is the Corruption Perception index maintained by an international NGO, Transparency International. While the index has done immense service to the anti-corruption cause, it is primarily meant for a broad level comparison among countries and is based on perception rather than actual ground level data. Its utility in managing our country’s internal affairs is limited. Apart from that, there are no meaningful studies on the geographical spread of Corruption, nor any information on its time line trends, no best practices, not even a common place commission of inquiry on the spread of Corruption.

Overall there are no credible estimates of the quantum or cost of corruption in India. This has led to a situation where a feeble improvement on the Corruption Perception Index off late has hidden an astounding growth in the quantum of Corruption as evident from recent disclosures – Koda scam, I.A.S. raids, 300 Crorepati babus. The monetary estimates of Corruption normally vary from billions of dollars annually to trillions of dollars in accumulated figures. The figures are either based on very broad rules of thumb or are completely a figment of one’s imagination. The higher the estimate, the higher is the air of invincibility around it. Most of these figures have a hollow ring to them and are unable to mobilize public opinion to force the hands of the government. We continue to live in a hazy daze where everyone knows that Corruption exists but there is no official confirmation of the same. It allows the government to put their blinkers on and go about their work ignoring the existence of Corruption completely while continuing to bring out new schemes & policies that benefit the intermediaries more than their intended recipients. There is another school of thought that believes that growth in economy will itself deal with Corruption, so we may choose to ignore it till such time we are riding the growth tiger. In the process however, Corruption has grown stronger and stronger. Most importantly, it has led to a situation where Corruption has become a low risk, high return game and is feeding on itself to grow monstrously.

There are strong reasons for developing new metrics to measure Corruption despite its underlying difficulties. Some of them are enumerated below:

1. Primary reason for measuring Corruption is that measurement is the first step towards a cure. We need to measure something to be able control it.

2. The monstrous growth in Corruption can only be dented by a committed public opinion. Such a public opinion can only be built around a systematic measure of Corruption.

3. Behind the facade of anti-corruption, there is a growing tolerance for corruption in our society. It is undesirable, everyone says, but inevitable. Inevitability blunts public opposition. The inevitability stems largely from our inability to measure and track Corruption.

4. The smokescreen of impossibility of measuring Corruption because it is secret is often used to prevent probing on this front. However secrecy hasn’t stopped us from probing several other clandestine issues such as Sexual preferences & Political inclinations( Election Surveys, Exit Polls).

5. Corruption has always been treated as aberration of individuals who need to be exposed & punished. Hence very little effort has been made to check institutionalized Corruption which needs measurement on an ongoing basis.

6. Most of our present knowledge of Corruption levels is perception based. Even those perceptions are limited and shaped by new disclosures in scams. We have never pro actively sought to measure Corruption, which alone can deal with the fast mutating problem.

We have come a very long way from a Rs. 62 crore Bofors scam which shook the Central Government and led to a Prime Minister loosing election, to a Rs. 4,000 crore Koda scam where another tainted politician was sworn in as state Chief Minister soon after the scam came to light. How much farther do we need to travel before we act? The time to act is now!!

Its not for nothing that Customs is the most sought after cadre behind IAS & IPS in Civil Services Examination. The department reeks of Corruption. Its has got an ever flowing stream of ‘liquid cash’ that beckons new recruits. Estimated average daily bribe collected by Customs officials range from Rs 50,000 to Rs 2 lakh as per graft investigators. Three recent HT stories give us a glimpse of the rot with in the department.

Hindustan Times, 09 Feb 2010: DRI raids and seizes Rs. 1.75 crores from Ashok Gulati, a Customs House Agent (Private entity who provide services to importers and exporters). He confesses that apart from Rs. 40 Lakhs the rest belonged to 4 Customs Officials including a Deputy Commissioner. DRI transfers the case to the Customs & Excise Department who order an internal inquiry.

Hindustan Times, 11 Feb 2010: The CHA, Ashok Gulati retracts his earlier statement. He now claims that the entire money belongs to him.

Hindustan Times, 21 Feb 2010: The story gives a detailed account of pen drives, cryptic codes & collection agents used by Corrupt customs officials to conceal their activities.

While the stream of corruption flows unabated, vigilance agencies only end up covering up whatever little gets exposed. There are many questions that fill our minds begging for answers:

1) Why were the customs officials not raided immediately after there were enough corroborating evidence.

2) Why was the CHA not used as a decoy to entrap the corrupt officials.

3) Has any systematic effort been made to counter this entrenched web of corruption?

4) How many officials have been raided/caught and successfully prosecuted in the past one year.

5) Are new recruits who opt for Customs asked why they did so?

6) What is it that makes Customs such a lucrative cadre choice, if not Corruption.

I was forced to mull on this question by the runway popularity of a recent post by Fumiko Nagano on the World Bank blog regarding the efforts of 5th Pillar to fight Corruption in India with Zero Rupee Notes. Since then, it has taken the digital world by storm with several hundred twitterattis including @ShashiTharoor and @Gulpanag retweeting its link and several prominent websites including The Economist, CNN, Boing Boing featuring related posts. 5th Pillar is Chennai based, grass roots organisation that has been working against Corruption using RTI and Zero Rupee Notes. It encourages people to use Zero Rupee Notes distributed by them to counter requests for bribe. This is akin to ‘Gandhigiri’ as it tries to shame the Corrupt officials into giving up Corruption instead of using punitive measures. For the uninitiated, the concept of Gandhigiri was introduced by a 2006 Hindi film, Lage Raho Munna Bhai. It consists of confronting the tormentor with moral force, kindness and non-violence in true Gandhian tradition. Since the release of the movie, strikers, protesters and activists have begun to distribute roses or flowers to draw attention to their cause. Even powerful Politicians & Police have sometimes resorted to  Gandhigiri in an attempt to educate the public and convey their message.

Like Gandhigiri, the Zero Rupee note idea too is fairly simple and does not require much resources to implement. The idea also finds so many takers because it promises to fix a vexatious problem without too much turmoil. The real question is how effective the solution is? To my mind, there are three chief ingredients that can cause Gandhigiri to succeed:-

1. The foremost factor behind the success of Gandhigiri is the shock value associated with it. Since the tormentor does not anticipate such a response from the victim, he is shocked into compliance by the act of Gandhigiri. This factor is largely responsible for the initial success of Gandhigiri. However as the novelty fades and things fall back to normal, its effectiveness reduces dramatically.

2. The second chief ingredient of Gandhigiri is its viral nature. Nothing succeeds like success. The success of a few individuals can drive others to follow suit. If a million people who have got the Zero Rupee Note, start using it to pay the corrupt, the impact will be huge. The impact will not just be due to the ’shock value’ but also due to to the collective strength of the effort and the inherent weakness of the corrupt.

3. The third ingredient which is always latent is the threat element. Ironically it is diametrically opposite to what Gandhiji preached. For example in the two recent cases of Gandhigiri – MNS distributing elementary Marathi books to North Indian Taxi Drivers and RJD workers distributing roses to shopkeepers a day prior to ‘Bihar bandh’ requesting them  to keeps their shops closed – both had unmistakable elements of threat. Even in the movie, Gandhigiri succeeds largely because it is done by ‘Munna Bhai’ who is a gangster. The lurking element of threat and power is what makes Gandhigiri potent. It is debatable how effective it would be in the hands of the weak and the helpless. None have said this better than Ramdhari Singh Dinkar in his masterpiece ‘Kurushetra’  :-

क्षमा शोभती उस भुजंग को, जिसके पास गरल हो,

उसको क्या, जो दन्तहीन, विषरहित, विनीत, सरल हो

(Forgiveness only adorns a serpent who has venom,

It does not behove the toothless, poison-less and the imbecile.)

To set the record straight, this post is not meant to deride or debunk the idea of a Zero rupee note. It is meant to put things in perspective and set the expectations right. At the very least it is an idea that takes the fight to the doorsteps of the Corrupt officials. It gives even the poorest of the victims a tool to register their protest. Yet it is a desperate tool for desperate people. Anyone who can afford bribe is highly unlikely to use the Zero Rupee Note. Ironically, those who can’t afford bribe are also the most vulnerable in the face of any possible retaliation from the corrupt. This is where the ground operations of 5th Pillar play a crucial role by providing support, succour and advice to the hapless victims. There is also a strong case that can be made of a possible co-operation between the 5th Pillar and  the Legal BPO of the kind proposed by @Shaffi Mather to assist the victims of Corruption, if Gandhigiri alone does not work.

The real purpose of this post however, is to emphasise that Corruption is a serious issue just like Health, Education, Infrastructure, Poverty and Population. It requires similar allocation of resources not just from the government but also from all stake holders and well wishers. It requires us to institute academic studies, aggregate knowledge that already exists, monitor and measure progress over time and place, spread awareness, expose, control and eliminate Corruption. Like any other serious problem, it deserves a serious response. Mere symbolism will not be enough.