Showing posts with label Corruption. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Corruption. Show all posts

Friday, November 23, 2012

Who needs Veronica Lodge ?

The debate (!) has gone on ad nauseum. For the sake of the aye-sayers and naysayers, B&E gives a final spin

There was more bad news for the exchequer this June besides skyrocketing inflation, which almost touched the 12% mark (11.63%). At first, it was the Farmer Loan Waiver Scheme, which became operative on June 30, putting a burden of Rs. 716.80 billion on the exchequer. Then came a recommendation by the government to form a committee of bureaucrats, which would look after the recommendation of increasing the salary of government employees by as much as 40%. The total burden of the two acts would put an additional burden of Rs. 1,147.8 billion on the exchequer. And it’s all because of the fact that the government can now see an election round the corner and hence is busy squandering money in an attempt to improve its brand image.

Well, it’s nothing new (in fact, even saying this fact sounds quite stupid), as when elections come closer, governments start spending their ‘populist belly button’ more. The fate of the loan waiver scheme implemented by Devi Lal in 1990 rewrote bankruptcy models. The negative impact of the scheme was so strong that the country is still trying to recover from the fiscal gap formed by it. Dharmakriti Joshi, Principal Economist, CRISIL, added to what we already knew, “The [current] loan waiver would not only increase the inflation, it would also put a huge fiscal stress on the country.” Moral hazard and increase in default rate will be the consequences, news of some of which has already started to come up. Many experts also confirm that the clauses in the scheme actually stop many small and marginal farmers from taking benefits, which itself kills the main objective of the scheme. Besides this, infrastructural bottlenecks and no clarity on the clauses in the scheme give ample opportunities for corruption to crop up in the process. NREGA is a living example.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

Saturday, September 8, 2012

CORRUPTION: INDIAN BUREAUCRACY

Corruption remains our Achilles Heel. Indian vigilance departments should now start employing innovative ground-level Anti-Corruption Tactics to reduce the incidence of this malaise

The whole idea of Zero Tolerance Policy introduced by the government apparently is falling flat. Initiatives like Whistle Blowers Bill, Right to Information Act, Action Plan on Vigilance, transparency in tendering and contracting, e-Governance and similar other policies are being dodged easily.

Even the most tested and tried concept of ombudsmen (sometimes called Chief Vigilance Officers) has not been enacted till now. The Administrative Reforms Commission (ARC) set up in January 1966 under Morarji Desai recommended a two-tier machinery – a Lokpal at the Centre and one Lokayukta each at the State level for redressal of people’s grievances. That remains a recommendation even after 44 years. As per late Prof. C. K. Prahalad, the cost of corruption to India till now has been Rs.2.5 trillion.

India now needs radical ground level tactics to curb corruption. Interestingly, in Philippines, where corruption among customs officials is quite high, the government has innovatively made them work on drawer-less tables under closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras to fight the so-called “open drawer” racket. Similarly, in Nepal, airport officials are given trousers with no pockets. In US, Obama – when he was senator – innovated the compulsory usage of cameras in police cars in Illinois.

Should India employ similar tactics? Of course, and more. The vigilance commission should not simply track corruption but should attempt to entrap government officials by clandestinely offering bribes. Those who fall for such traps; arrest them. Over time, even corrupt government officials would stop accepting bribes believing an offer could well be a vigilance investigation in progress.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
 
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