Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has begun the new year well with his message which, among other things, highlighted the issue of finding ways to combat the pervasive corruption in the country. He acknowledged the current reality when he noted that the question had now come to occupy “centrestage” and pledged to personally work to provide “an honest and more efficient government”. The proof of the pudding, of course, will be in the eating. If he looks back on the time when he assumed office in 2004, Dr Singh would recall that he had publicly taken up the issue of a lean and efficient government free of corruption so that the poor may be served better even within the limitation of the resources available. This promise has, alas, backfired on an honest and otherwise decent man.
It is time the Manmohan Singh government devised ways to put in place — by making the needed changes in the administrative labyrinth — a wholly revised system of governance, with the aid of Web-based tools, that gives primacy to transparency and accountability. This would be crucial to curbing or eliminating the scope for corruption to which the Prime Minister has drawn attention. In this mission he needs to bring in the critical political input and synergise with his party and its leadership at various levels, or nothing will go right. A system is made to budge only when political power wills this.
The proposed Lokpal and Lokayukta law, it must be understood, is not everything, although it has drawn disproportionate attention of late. The ombudsman can only be a deterrent, and his office would come into play once the crime (of corruption) has occurred. Indeed, no country has an overarching institution of the Lokpal-type, as envisaged in our recent debates. Worthwhile democracies rely not on a boss-man with a stick but by ensuring that procedures and rules are implemented. Hence, it is important to re-frame and refurbish these and bring about openness and accountability. The time has come for our own glasnost and perestroika. That is the way for social, economic and political advance.
The Prime Minister also spoke of a five-point policy agenda aimed at livelihood security (education, food, health and environment), economic security, energy security, ecological security and national security. All this is laudable, but not new. Nevertheless, it is reassuring that the UPA-2 regime plans to invest in this agenda matrix in the second half of its scheduled term. It should, however, account for political obstruction from its opponents, and possibly some allies as well, for success on these fronts will be perceived as giving the Congress party electoral advantage, just as the NREGA had done in the last general election.