By Rajdeep Sardesai
Here is an intriguing question: has corruption declined, increased or remained the same in the seven years of the Narendra Modi government? After all, the ‘na khaoonga, na khane doonga’ (neither will I take a bribe nor will I allow anyone to take a bribe) was the rousing message from prime minister Modi in his first Independence Day address to the nation after taking over in 2014. Well, tell that now to contractors in Karnataka where the state contractors association has written to the prime minister’s office last month claiming that they have to cough up around 25-30 per cent of tender amounts to elected representatives before even starting any public works in Bengaluru with a further five per cent being paid to get their bills cleared. Or mention this to government employees in Goa where a BJP MLA has accused his own PWD minister of taking Rs 25-30 lakhs as a bribe for every departmental posting. Or indeed to police officers in Maharashtra where a former top cop has accused the state’s now arrested home minister of seeking Rs 100 crore ‘vasooli’ per month from the police force.
Karnataka and Goa are BJP ruled. Maharashtra is an opposition ruled coalition. The evidence would suggest that institutionalized corruption remains the great leveler that cuts across the political divide. So where does that leave the prime minister’s commitment to act tough against corruption? Recall that in the build up to the 2014 general elections, the image of being a fierce anti-corruption crusader was key to the Modi strongman persona. The 2014 poll slogan ‘Bahut hua Bhrasthachar, abki baar Modi sarkar’ (enough of corruption, this time Modi government) was targeted at an effete Congress-led UPA 2 government that appeared to stumble along from one corruption allegation to another. But an anti-corruption slogan on the campaign trail is so much easier than actually bringing in genuinely transformative change on the ground. So what’s the reality beyond the stirring soundbites?
In January this year, India slipped six places on the Transparency International’s annual corruption index to the 86th rank but it was still a marginal improvement from being ranked 94 in 2013. On a global bribery risk index as perceived by foreign investors doing business in the country, India made a big leap forward from rank 185 in 2014 to 77 in 2020. Digitisation and the use of technology in several government processes has reduced the scope for misuse of discretionary powers, be it in tax collection or public services. The Modi government boasts that unlike in the UPA years, there is no major corruption scandal that has hobbled the government. Ministerial accountability which was seen to have gone missing in a weak UPA coalition government has been restored it is argued through greater ministerial scrutiny by a domineering Big Boss-like chief executive.
But exposing big ticket corruption is often a consequence of robust watchdog institutions or an independent media that investigates wrongdoing. In recent years, there are signs of institutional collapse and media co-option and compromise that make it that much easier for an all-powerful government to ensure a veil of opacity over its decision-making. Fewer Right to Information applications get answered satisfactorily, if at all. Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) reports are no longer the subject of heated public debates. After all the hullabaloo, the anti-corruption watchdog, the Lokpal, has been a virtual non-starter. When there is an occasional solid media investigation in a corruption case, it rarely gets followed up into a sustained campaign.
Take the classic example of the controversial electoral bonds that lie at the heart of the country’s vast and mostly unregulated election funding system. The figures for a key election year of 2019-20 for example reveal that out of the Rs 3,249 crores received by political parties, the BJP got Rs 2,606 crores or more than 75 per cent of the electoral bond money, confirming the wide disparity in access to resources. Even more troubling is the non-transparent information asymmetry with only those in the ruling party having access to the source of the monies. This creates the suspicion of potentially widespread cronyism and collusion of interests with little or no oversight. That the Supreme Court has procrastinated over the electoral bonds case only exposes the manner in which the few institutions which can act as a check on any misuse of power have also failed to perform their constitutional duty.
Elections, after all, lie at the heart of the democratic set-up and money oils the election machine. Routine elections every year, from gram panchayat upwards, demand a constant flow of cash. If the major parties rely on funding from the big corporates, those down the line need their own line of poll financing from local ‘syndicates’. In effect, there is a ‘decentralisation’ of corruption that co-exists with a centralization of power. Be it a ‘rate card’ for transferring or posting a government officer, haftas from dance bars, allowing illegal mining, changing land use and building regulations, granting additional management seats in an education institute, or just manipulating village road tenders, the nature of the corruption may vary but the ‘deal-making’ is almost in-built into a vast well-entrenched system of localized political-bureaucratic largesse. Just look at how the assets of so many elected representatives at every level register a quantum jump after just a few years in power. As the re-emergence of cash in a post demonetized world has shown, there are no quick fix deterrents to ending a near-endemic culture of bribe giving and taking.
Which is why Mr Modi’s anti-corruption pledge now seems more like a well-spun election narrative that doesn’t quite stand up to rigorous scrutiny. Why not at least act in BJP-ruled states like Karnataka and Goa against those who are misusing their public office? Simply blaming previous governments for their spotty record against corruption may no longer cut ice. Interestingly, Karnataka’s contractors claim that while a ten per cent commission was demanded in the previous JD (S)-Congress government, that ‘rate card’ has now spiraled to thirty per cent. Corruption too it would seem is hostage to inflationary pressures!
Post-script: Last month, I interviewed the outspoken Meghalaya governor, Satya Pal Malik who candidly claimed that in his previous tenure as Goa governor, the BJP government in Panjim had been “fully involved” in corruption even during Covid relief and he had written to the prime minister to complain about it. So what happened, I asked? ‘Well, I was removed and sent to Shillong,” he sighed ruefully.
(The writer is senior journalist and author. Mail: [email protected])