Times change dont they? This post was written when the Anna movement created a mania all over India and he was called the Gandhi of 21st century.
Corruption is believed to have been deeply embedded in the roots and soils of our country and that no amount of effort will able to uproot this monster which is voraciously eating our economy has been a widely held view. But what we saw in the past week was an exodus of people from their work , college, schools to the Ramlila grounds. The Anna movement wasn’t limited to the capital city and was witnessed throughout India in form of protests on street, candle light marches and huge support on the social media websites. It was an event big enough to get the whole country together.People of all age groups and work strata were present to show their solidarity for the cause. The numbers at the Ramlila ground corroborated for the popularity and support for the Team Anna’s movement.
The government finally assented with Anna’s three demands after relentless efforts and brought an end to the political impasse and the 13 day fast. It was very much against the bill initially but finally had to succumb to the demands under severe public pressure showing a flaccid stand. People celebrated in the large numbers in India gate and rose in exultation as the whole nation celebrated unitedly the great victory of Team Anna.
But was it really a ‘victory’? Firstly the demands which have been passed as a resolution include coverage of entire lower bureaucracy under Lokpal, passage of a bill on creation of Lokayuktas in states and citizens charter for redressal of grievances. However there are serious doubts on how the committee of the Lokpal will be appointed. If the committee will have people who are not elected then it poses serious threat to the functioning of a ‘representative democracy’. The whole idea of the democracy is people’s rule which will be threatened if the same is not adhered to.Also it may just become a ‘secure’ job for retired judges and other government officials looking for stable income to cover for the corrupt practices of the government. This way it will just end up becoming another defunct government body and would be a retrograde step .
The means adopted by Team Anna were flawed. Holding the government at ransom to decide on nationally important policies do not signal a mature stance. The recent scams which have unfolded has led to large public dissent towards the government. But this does not justify that the parliament is forced into taking decisions which needs to be debated and passed as a resolution.Whatever has been the success of the movement and the fact that a large number of people are now conscious of the ‘prevalent corruption’ and think they can make a difference cannot be forgotten. Saying that the whole movement was a sham would be highly pessimistic and cynical, however citizens and other ‘civil ‘ society members should be wary of the ramifications of their actions .80,000 people who gathered on the grounds and the rest who actually boast of supporting Team Anna by wearing white caps and t-shirts should not succumb to the evil of corruption. One way to combat is that citizens themselves should oppose to the practice of “corruption’. It is indeed a very utopian idea but if the people who are pressing for the Bill want an end to graft, they have to ‘be the change’ as Gandhiji says.That one man got the whole nation to its tunes for 13 days is no joke. But we should not prostrate to this as a panacea of all problems gnawing and crippling our economy. Other serious reforms need to be brought to make sure that corruption is reduced to the minimum. Some of the measures include banning corporate funding of elections, judicial accountability ,speedy redressal which calls for judicial reforms and establishing transparent procedures to ensure that allocation of contracts, resources or spectrum is done in a fair manner. As Dr Manmohan Singh concludes in his speech recently in Calcutta "Corruption not only weakens the moral fibre of our country, it also promotes inefficiency and cronyism which undermine the social legitimacy of market economics. It also creates a trust deficit which ultimately weakens our ability to act unitedly."
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