INDIA is outraged at this continuing scale of Corruption
As India’s GDP grows past US $ 1.4 trillion,so does the Corruption scale in tandem….the CAG Report just tabled in Parliament notes that the Loss to the National Exchequer in the 2G Spectrum Sale was a whopping Rs 176645 lakh crores if one considers the 3G realisations this year….that’s close to US $ 40 Billion !….that’s nearly 3% of our GDP !….would have taken care of half our Fiscal Deficit !
UPA Government lead by Congress with it’s Political allies for now…notably and yet DMK from Tamil Nadu,whose A Raja was the Telecom Minster who is alleged to have caused this Loss….they defend that this a presumptive loss…in that no real money has been lost !…but this money could,should and would have actually come to the Government and Public Domain from the Private Corporate Sector….the Telecom Minister deliberately contravened,tweaked,violated policy and procedures and even ignored PMO’s advice and sold the 2G spectrum asset dirt cheap to favoured corporate groups….Swan (fronting Anil Ambani Group),Videcon,Unitech are some of the names …..surely some in the government were favoured in return…this is not presumptive ! …many of these groups were ineligible….many have yet to start their service even after nearly three years….and many quickly went on to sell equity stakes at five and ten times valuations based on the relatively meagre quantum of 2G Licensing fees paid…this too is not presumptive!
Opposition party BJP wants a Joint Parliamentary Committtee (JPC) Probe…..JPC has never really been a successful tool….more of a whitewash…..more to protect from more skeletons coming out from the cupboard of all political parties…..MP’s across Political Parties cannot agree on the Floor of the Houses !…what will they concur with in a JPC !…you will get many dissent notes
Congress wants the due process to be followed of the CAG Report moving to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC)….but the PAC has no judicial authority…it merely reviews the CAG Report to check for appropriateness and completeness of conclusions backed by adequate supportings…it can merely delete or alter the wordings in the CAG report
INDIA wants the perpetrators to be pinpointed and punished fast….and be jailed
Our Supreme Court has even just questioned our Prime Minister,Manmohan Singh to explain his inaction in this 2G Scam and as to why A Raja was retained as Telecom Minister and not asked to step down much earlier….One of the Panelists on the TV spoke this of our PM ” He only listens to Uncle Sam and Sonia Ma’am !”
In this ABC of Corruption….Adarsh Housing or A Raja in the 2G Spectrum Scam,or Bofors,or the Commonwealth Games…..the evidence is overwhelming and damning….yet the Top masterminds in Politics,Bureaucracy and the Corporate World escape…..we resign ourselves to accepting resignations and arrests of a few subordinates !
Guys like A Raja and Suresh Kalmadi are merely acolytes and androids…the masterminds are higher up
If our Democracy has to breathe strongly and vibrantly and not be choked,all our three arms of the Legislature,Executive and the Judiciary need to be not just clean,but even seen to be clean !…..Our Media is playing a responsible and relentless role in exposing corruption and corrupt people…there will be exceptions who have severe vested interests as they are merely fronts and therefore will display bias and they are being bankrolled by the culprits
Our three arms have been dangerously compromised and this situation must be reversed on a top priority basis…the first step to do this is to fast create a strong deterrent…by severly punishing,by jailing,the guilty after a fast track judicial process….in this context the most sensible and practical suggestion came from the much respected Karnataka Lok Ayukta Judge Hegde….take the matter out of the Parliament as clearly and delberately there will be disruptions and the investigations will be compromised….and let the matter be judged by a six months fast track independent judicial tribunal set up……as people have lost faith in external investigative agencies like CBI…it has earned a notorious sobriquet of being called the ‘Congress Bureau of Investigation’ as it is accused of simply being the ruling Party Congress’s arm to scuttle probes against them or intensify probes against the Opposition
One heartening observation….People are so outraged that they are not hesitating to name ‘Names’….In a ‘Times Now’ Arnab Goswami Debate on the CWG Scam,a rightly agitated Rahul Mehra,spoke for all of us,when he voiceferously lambasted Kalmadi stating as to why was he allowed to go to the Asian Games in China to represent India at the highest level….he must,like Lalit Modi of the IPL,be scared the daylights off not to return to India !..and remain in China were they severely and quickly punish the guilty….Pradeep Magazine exposed Justice Chandrachud when he stated that years ago he was contacted by a bookie to approach Cricket Players for fixing matches…he had refused but was scared…a one man,Justice Chadrachud committee was formed to investigate this malaise of match fixing then and Pradeep Magazine was asked to depose on what happened to him…he was scared whether he should reveal all or not…but to his utter disbelief and astonishment,Justice Chadrachud simply told him not to tell him anything at all !…and went on to give a clean report….later it was proven that players were involved in match fixing and were imposed a few years to life time bans !…..so another illustration of how even the Judiciary has been compromised…
Recently on September 16,2010,an ex law Minister,Mr Shanti Bhushan moved an application in the Supreme Court giving the court a sealed envelope containing a list of 16 Supreme Court Judges,of which he claimed that eight were definitely corrupt,six were definitely honest ,and on two he was unable to form any opinion …this list contains the names of eight past Chief Justices of India !…his son,Prashant Bhushan,also a practicing Supreme Court lawyer,supports his father….but he too is facing contempt charges for accusing the current CJI S H Kapadia and his predeccessors for misconduct !
So I wonder whether even Mr Hegde’s suggestion of a Tribunal will work…… the accused may be brought to trial….but will they be punished severely !?…..when A Raja and Kalmadi proclaim that “We believe in the Judiciary” and “Let the Law take it’s own course ” ……they must be cocksure that the settings for their acquittal are in place !
So this is where the macro picture stands for our Democracy right now…..unless a Naxalite or Armed Rebel comes and rings the Doorbells of our Demagogue Leaders,they are simply too thick skinned to bare their conscience and become accountable and be punished for the many indiscretions that the nexus of Bureaucrats,Corporate Czars and others create….and as India becomes more and more prosperous,one is witnessing the dangerous widening of Wealth Gaps….unless there is Financial Literacy and Inclusion for our 1.2 billion people as we grow,we are going to see heartbreaking poverty and evils of exremism,religious or otherwise,continue to fuel mindsets and movements like Naxalism
So Coalition Government and Coalition Corruption….More the Merrier !
So tell me an alternative for our vibrant Democracy !….in theory a Government Of the People,For the People,By the People…..but how does one apply this theory with all Moralities in place !?…because in a Democracy we are all Innocent unless proved Guilty…and when we go to the Judiciary to Prove so,we have to fear and confront a compromised Judiciary
Yet…I’m an eternal Optimist…..love being an Indian in India right now and as always !….and my children and their children and even their children and their children and…….will enjoy a thriving and Free India,no matter where they choose to live on this Planet
Cheers !
1 thought on “UPA…Coalition Government…Coalition Corruption….but what’s the alternative!?”
Amen!