Corruption

Today corruption is virtually synonymous with all government agencies and bodies. We constantly crib about the level of corruption we face at all levels while facing government agents or officers. The idea of a corruption free India looks bright and beautiful to each one of us while we are discussing about the Indian governance system, sitting cosily in our living room. But can we Indians really live in that totally fare and just system?

I can not think of any person around me who has not offered that 100 bucks to the traffic constable to avoid getting a ticket, or giving that extra amount to get a confirmed berth in the train at the last moment. So is it just the government officials that are to be blamed? It has always been very convenient for us to put the entire blame of doing wrong on these Babus at various offices.

So why is it that we Indians who have historically been just and fare by nature; started this epidemic that till this date; about 60 years down, stand untreated and with no immediate cure. I feel that the corruption was the cause of the economic utopia that our constitution makers assumed India to be.

As the constitution of the nation and the government policies treat each and every individual as equal, this fact is hardly true in the real world. It is these corrupt practices that act as the external correcting agent to balance or bring the whole system into the stable equilibrium state, which can be sustained over the years.

Let us take an example, suppose you want to get your LPG connection or even passport, if you are a poor man who can’t afford to bribe, the process has a lot of complications and reiterations of form filling. But for a person who grease’s the system with a few gifts to the right people, the whole process streamlines to a smooth and efficient system, with his work being done virtually in a flash.

Now if we look at the most basic diagram of economics.

The root cause for the whole bribery dominated system is that the government is charging a very small amount of money. But there are people who can pay higher amount than the prevailing rates to get the things done faster or more conveniently. So the bribery nexus just taps into this group of people, charging them the amount that rich people are willing to pay.

Had the rule makers made different set of rules for different people, these things would had scaled down considerably. So as it is well known that the forces of demand and supply actually take care of a lot of things in the free market, so a lot of rule making and guidelines are indeed not actually helping the cause.

The “haves” and “have not’s” can never be equal, and finally a few departments are now appreciating this fact with the services like “Tatkal” in railways and passport office actually accept the fact the people who are willing to pay more should be given preference. I hope one day all the agencies do appreciate this fact and try working in tapping it to get more revenues for themselves instead helping Swiss Banks accumulate the wealth.