Corruption is a monster that eats into the psyche of nations and earns bad name in the global arena. Ideally, the demon has to be tamed and laid to rest. Former Chief Vigilance Commissioner Natrajan Vittal is of the firm belief that it ought to be eliminated totally and authoritatively claims that it is not difficult.

INDIA IS rated as one of the most corrupt countries in the world. The corruption perception index published by Transparency International, a NGO based in Berlin, rates India at rank 72 out of 102 countries in the year 2002. Corruption is the use of public office for private gain. There could be a much wider definition of corruption covering financial, moral, intellectual integrity. But for administration and even the World Bank, it is the financial integrity that is the main focus.

The question may arise whether corruption can be eliminated totally. Cynics may take a view that it cannot. But having been the Central Vigilance Commissioner for four years (1998-2002), I think it is still possible to eliminate corruption totally. The first step in fighting corruption is making people aware of the consequences of corruption. Corruption is anti-national, anti-economic development and anti-poor. The anti-national character of corruption was highlighted, when the hawala case burst on the scene in the 1990s which exposed the fact that it was not only the Kashmiri militants who are anti-national but the corrupt politicians, businessmen and bureaucrats who are also using the hawala route for illegal transactions. The Bombay blast of 1993, in which 300 innocent people lost their lives was made possible because a bribe of Rs.25 lakh was paid to corrupt Customs officials who winked at the smuggling of the RDX which lead to the disaster.

The anti-poor consequences of corruption is well known. Late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi pointed out that out of every single rupee invested for anti-poverty programmes, only 15 paise reaches the beneficiaries. The remaining 85 paise can be explained as 40 paise for administrative overheads and 45 paise for corruption. The corruption is anti-economic development. The UNDP Report of 1999 points out that if India’s corruption level comes down to the level to that of Scandinavian countries, to GDP will grow by 1.5 percent and Foreign Direct Investment by 12 percent.

The Central Vigilance Commission of the Government of India took two steps in my time, to sensitize people about the dangers of corruption. The first was to publish for the first time using the internet - in the CVC website - the names of corrupt public servants, who have been found guilty in departmental enquiries and against whom prosecution has been sanctioned. The second step was to initiate vigilance awareness week every year to be observed from 31st October up to 6th November. We chose 31st October, because it was the birthday of Sardar Vallabhai Patel who was a role model for integrity in public life and who integrated India welding the 6,000 and odd principalities which were left independent at the time of British leaving India.

The fight against corruption will be long. The CVC followed a three-point strategy to tackle corruption at the bureaucratic level. (i) Simplification of rules and procedure so that the scope of corruption is reduced; (ii) Transparency and empowering the public and (iii) Effective punishment.

The use of information technology and the website of CVC not only helped in bringing transparency but also emerged as an instrument by which the slow-moving administrative authorities can be goaded into action. The CVC’s direct responsibility was fighting corruption at the official level. But Indian corruption is a vicious cycle, which involves political corruption leading to bureaucratic corruption, business corruption and criminilisation of politics. In order to tackle this, the initiative has to be taken at the public level, by mobilizing the NGOs and also using the instrument of judicial activism.

In a recent development a couple of professors from IIM Ahmedabad approached the Delhi High Court which held that the candidates to election will have to give details regarding their criminal background and educational qualification. This decision was upheld by the Supreme Court in appeal. The entire political class tried to negate the result of the Supreme Court by bringing an amendment to the Representative of People Act.

The amendment has been struck down as violative of Article 19 of the Constitution, which confer the fundamental right of freedom of speech on Indian citizens which includes their right to know about the candidates criminal background, educational qualification, their assets etc. Such judicial activism combined with greater sensitivity of people at large go a long way in cleansing the public life in India and move towards a situation when India becomes a developed country with minimum if not zero corruption.