Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
If one goes by this age-old maxim one can say that from ancient time corruption is very much inherent in power. But, different religious communities may cite examples of golden era of their own, free from all sorts of corruption and evils. Jews and Christians may refer to the age of Biblical Prophets Moses, Joseph, David, Soleman, Jesus etc; Hindus may talk about Ram Rajya or Muslims about the Khilafat-e-Rashida (the rule of the first four Caliphs after Prophet Mohammad).
Apart from that, we find fewer examples of those possessing power yet are not carried away by the evil of corruption. In fact all the Prophets, Messengers, sages and other great men either kept themselves away from the lure of power or always tried to reform or fight against those who were corrupt.
The purpose here is not to convey that Manmohan Singh government is the corrupt-most in the Indian history nor to exonerate it of all the charges.
The truth is that scams of much larger proportion were very much there even in the immediate post-independence India. Some got exposed, but some never. The most important difference is that with the passing of each year we have more and more means to know about them, therefore, we are able to know more about them.
The expansion of media, the emergence of strong bi-polar politics, enactment of Acts like RTI, judicial activism etc have made the common citizens more aware of various charges of corruption. For example, till a quarter century back the CAG reports were never so much debated and discussed in the media. Print media journalism, barring a few exceptions, was not so strong. May be some opposition leaders were stronger in conviction than those now. But where was the space for them to be heard of and read about? A handful of newspapers were not able to create such a consciousness about any event as now.
So if a CAG report said that the country possibly suffered a loss of Rs 1,76,000 crore because of the 2G Spectrum scam the citizens were quick to become aware of it as now more than the opposition leaders the media succeeded in conveying this fact. It is other thing that the actual figure of the scam may be Rs 2,645 crore, as it is being now said in the same media.
In spite of information explosion the common citizens may not be able to know what 2G Spectrum scam is all about. Nor do they know anything about Jan Lokpal Bill. But thanks to the media they are now able to know that Manmohan Singh is leading the most corrupt government in Indian history. Today’s Suresh Kalmadi is in jail, but there might have been a Kalmadi––may be a much smaller in stature––during the 1982 Asiad Games too. But he could never be detected, thanks to weak media and opposition. Certainly everything was not hunky-dory then.
A senior railway official once commented privately that possibly the biggest scam in the country took place more than half a century back when the decision regarding the electrification of Indian Railways was taken. The decision in this regard was taken many years before the so-called Oil Crisis of 1973.
Today rail traffic gets stalled for hours and Accident Relief Trains could not reach the spot in time of emergency because the overhead wires get disconnected even after a minor mishap or derailment of one or two coaches.
Producing power to run electric trains requires lakhs of tonnes of coal every year. Huge dams were constructed causing environmental pollution and displacement of millions. Besides, the social cost it entails is much more than the amount spent on importing diesel.
According to that official the country may never be able to overcome the power crisis because these trains consume so much electricity. Diesel engines are equally efficient and powerful and do not pose any problem in reaching anywhere in the country in any circumstances. Incidentally, the first Rajdhani Express on electrified Howarh-New Delhi track introduced more than 40 years back was powered by diesel engine and it continued to do so for years. Even the US, China and many European countries prefer diesel engines over electric locomotives.
This whole exercise of electrification was taken under the influence of big lobbies––national and international. Yet nobody questioned it then and nor today some five decades later. But 2G Spectrum is on everyone’s lips.
Apart from that we have the habit of equating Indian ruling class with that of United States and other western countries. We call politicians of West clean and honest and paint our own in the blackest of colours. Yes, those ruling the western countries are apparently honest. But they have their own definition of honesty too. They may be to the pie honest in dealing with their own people or country. But when it comes to dealing with the others, especially Third World countries, the same honest western rulers become one of the most corrupt.
The destruction and reconstruction of Iraq, Afghanistan and many other countries have benefited big multi-national companies of the West. Many in US administration have business link with these firms and are direct beneficiaries of the illegal means. Yet nobody is questioning them because back home they all may be dry honest.
In case of Japan the story is different. Many of its prime ministers had lost their jobs because of the corruption charges.
Post-Mandal India saw the emergence of another form of corruption. Backward politicians who came to power in north Indian states, were unable to attract financial contributions from big traders and industrialists, who used to fund Congress or BJP. Deprived of this opportunity they resorted to their own means of making money by bleeding the treasury white. The lower functionaries of the party would earn by extorting money from petty shopkeepers and small time merchants. Thus they became defamed because they adopted crude method of corruption.
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