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 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. 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.
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.
The
corruption in Indian media runs deep. A leading newspaper in India
refused to send reporters for a World Bank-supported program to train
journalists on covering environment and sanitation issues, arguing that if the
sanitation department wanted coverage, it ought to pay. Arguably,
these newspapers take their cue from the concept known as “private treaties,”
associated with the Times of India, the country’s largest-selling English
daily, but practiced by several other media companies.
Under
these agreements, a company looking for investment enters into a private treaty
with the newspaper. The paper takes a stake in the company, providing
advertising support and favorable editorial coverage. The newspaper hopes to
make a profit when the company goes public. Not only are readers not told of
such arrangements, but adverse news about those companies is sometimes
underplayed, or not reported at all.
Media
has forgotten its duty to serve public. Fairness and impartiality in provide
news to public has not been practiced by media. True facts/reports are often
hidden from the public.
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