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]

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

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.

The beginning of a new decade is a time to look back and set new strategic goals for future. A decade is a definitive period in a country’s history that can shape its fortunes for a long time to come. So let us review the progress of our fight against Corruption and resolve for a decade of concerted actions culminating in a Corruption Free India.

After I started this blog in May last year, I have seen the issue of ‘Corruption’ rise up steadily in public consciousness. Earlier Corruption used to hit the headlines whenever there was a new ‘expose’ only to fade away in oblivion after that. A lot seems to have changed in the past few months with Corruption being recognized as the key bottleneck inhibiting India’s progress. Several key opinion leaders have in unison thrown their weight behind the issue of Corruption in India. Some people might say that this is just a storm in the teacup. It might well be that. Yet many a cataclysmic change have started on more insignificant notes.

One such storm in the tea cup happened when ‘Jaago Re’, the much acclaimed campaign of Tata Tea, decided to adopt ‘Corruption’ as their next focal issue after running a successful voter turnout campaign for several years. The credibility of their earlier campaign as well as the strength of the Tata brand together promise a sustained campaign against corruption. It began with new TV spots Khilana Band Pilana Shuru as well as a brand new interactive website www.jaagore.com .

Several prominent bloggers too have zeroed in on ‘Corruption’ as being the key to India’s future. Atanu Dey has been most incisive of them all. He has written several posts on the issue of Corruption and how it inhibits economic development. At the end of one such post A Digression on Corruption… , he aptly concluded that India is poor because it is Corrupt. Another regular blogger, a Delhi based foreign correspondent, John Elliott wrote The Blight of Corruption in India . It explores how corruption at state levels have risen by leaps and bounds and it often forces the hands of the Central Government in the federal structure of our democracy.

Rajesh Jain, India’s numero uno Internet entrepreneur,too spelt out his thoughts on Corruption in a 5 part series Corruption in India declaring that fighting Corruption could be the next game changer for India. Gurcharan Das, the famous author of ‘India Unbound’ too emphasized the need to wage a war against Corruption in his new year post Future is ours to seek .

The ‘Corruption’ expose of the year was undoubtedly the Madhu Koda scam where almost a Billion Dollar graft by the ex Chief Minister of Jharkhand was unearthed Outlookindia – Cover Story on Madhu Koda . The sheer size of the scam has put the spot light back on Corruption. Our effort now should be to keep it there.

On my blog, I started by laying the groundwork for a greater role of Social Media in fighting Corruption. I followed it up in a 3 part series starting with Gods of Corruption detailing how easy it was to find Corruption in India. My regular activity on Twitter can be followed at nobribe . A Facebook Fan Page Corruption Free India was launched a few months back to facilitate interactivity among the support group. At this stage however, there are many more questions than answers – Why are we corrupt? ; Is Corruption in India inevitable? ; How can we tackle Corruption? ; What is the extent of Corruption? ; Why do we need to measure Corruption? ; How to measure Corruption? ; How can Social Media fight Corruption? and many more such questions. I do not claim to have all the answers but I am sure we will find our way if we keep looking for the answers together. A lot of you have encouraged me in my journey to unravel this mystery and offered your active support. I propose to take up some of the questions (not in the same order) in the weeks and months to come. Also working on a ‘wiki’ based solution that will allow for greater collaboration.

Recently the most influential management guru in the world, C. K. Prahlad dwelt at length on the issue of Corruption in India while delivering the Nani A Palkhivala memorial lecture Business Standard – Corruption Costs… estimating its cost to the Indian economy to be $54.3 Billion. He exhorted the nation to confront this issue with all the resources at its command. On a similar wintry, cold Delhi morning at the start of the previous decade Prahlad had boldly suggested that India should target 10% GDP growth rate . This was the time when India was just coming out of its customary slow growth rate and even a 7% target seemed awfully ambitious. Yet there he was,fresh from his success of the ‘Bottom of the Pyramid theory’ propounding a bold path forward for India to move on. Many people felt at that stage that he might just be shooting from his hips, yet by end of that decade, even though we didn’t actually attain 10% growth rate, yet the number does not raise any eyebrows anymore. Here is hoping that this new decade will mark the beginning of the end of Corruption in India. Let’s all work for it.

A man at the tap needs a glass of water. You pour a glass of water into the system, but the man at the tap only gets a spoonful. What does one do in such a scenario? Politician’s solution to this problem has been to pour a bucketful of water into the system hoping that the man at the tap would get his glassful. Alas!! The man at the tap still goes thirsty because the more water you pour into a leaking system, the more it leaks.

This has been the story of subsidies in independent India. Successive governments have devised new schemes to pour more and more money into the system with pious intentions of benefiting one constituency or another. However the leakages and the holes in our system have kept growing bigger and bigger. The real beneficiaries of this system are an entire gamut of people who cling to governance apparatus like parasites. These people can be freely seen loitering in corridors of power, currying favours to the politicians and bureaucrats alike.

After Rajiv Gandhi’s famous confession that for every Rupee that the government spends, only 15 paise reaches its intended recipient, subsequent studies have shown the figure to be still lower, may be around 6%. Yet there has been no common-sense effort made to fix this problem.

Every day throughout the nation newer scams of loot of government money are unearthed. These scams are then used as a football among political parties for casting blame on each other. Older scams are replaced by newer ones as public memory fades and the judicial system simply labours on . Yet the basic malaise of plugging the holes remains unaddressed.

What we don’t need is just more money into the system, but simply more ‘bang’ for the money that we spend. A start can be made by commissioning an assessment for every subsidy being provided. The exercise needs to be done by independent, non-governmental agencies. Such an exercise will not only expose the quantum of diversion but will also throw up solutions to check the leakages. Hopefully then the man at the tap will get his glassful of water.

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