I have second hand experience with corruption among politicians; by second hand experience I mean my experience through my parents, relatives and friends. I have first hand experience of corruption with cops in bangalore and in kerala - several instances. I have first and second hand experience of corruption at government institutions also.
However, my experiences are relatively small in number. Therefore, I am not able to conclude from my own experience whether majority of politicians, and govt officials are corrupt or not. However, I have heard from the media, friends, and people around that a very high percentage of politicians are corrupt. But, based on fact I wonder what that percentage is - 50% or 75% or higher?
The reason I am wondering about this is the following - Recently I heard couple of public figures such as Nandan Nilekani and Narayana Murthy talk about politicians in the context of the recent events. They clearly stated that they have tremendous respect for politicians. They seemed to make their conclusions based on their experience. These people have proven themselves in the non-policial arena, and have been hugely successful in the IT field. They are also contributing to the society and the country as well. One would not think twice to trust their judgement, and I have the same tendency.
Now, I am faced with inconsistent information. What is the truth? Is a high percentage of politicians and government officials corrupt, or is that false? Do I trust the statements by the above mentioned public figures, or do I stick to my several year old belief that I have formed based on a lot or opinions and some first hand experience?
I wonder ...
To get a good answer, I know I'd have to start defining what corruption is. I resort to Dr.Google who refers me to Wikipedia as expected.
Corruption includes, but is not limited to, the following activities [1]
1. Bribery in politics, business, or sport
2. Collusion, an agreement between two or more persons, sometimes illegal and therefore secretive, to limit open competition by deceiving, misleading, or defrauding others of their legal rights, or to obtain an objective forbidden by law typically by defrauding or gaining an unfair advantage
3. Electoral fraud
4. Embezzlement
5. Organized crime
6. Price Fixing
7. Abuse of the system
8. Cronyism (partiality to long-standing friends, especially by appointing them to positions of authority, regardless of their qualifications)
9. Influence peddling (illegal practice of using one's influence in government or connections with persons in authority to obtain favors or preferential treatment for another, usually in return for payment.)
10. Nepotism (favoritism granted to relatives or friends regardless of merit)
11. Patronage (favoritism in which a party in power rewards groups, families, ethnicities for their electoral support using illegal gifts or fraudulently-awarded appointments or government contracts.)
In general, corruption is any deviation from an ideal. When I started writing I was mainly referring to political corruption, mainly bribery in politics and bribery in general. But, corruption is more broad than that.
Now, I understand why we say that the society is corrupt. Several of the above including 7, 8, and 10 is often considered alright in many occasions.
I wonder how much I should correct my own thinking and actions before criticizing and thinking low about others.
I wonder ..
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corruption
However, my experiences are relatively small in number. Therefore, I am not able to conclude from my own experience whether majority of politicians, and govt officials are corrupt or not. However, I have heard from the media, friends, and people around that a very high percentage of politicians are corrupt. But, based on fact I wonder what that percentage is - 50% or 75% or higher?
The reason I am wondering about this is the following - Recently I heard couple of public figures such as Nandan Nilekani and Narayana Murthy talk about politicians in the context of the recent events. They clearly stated that they have tremendous respect for politicians. They seemed to make their conclusions based on their experience. These people have proven themselves in the non-policial arena, and have been hugely successful in the IT field. They are also contributing to the society and the country as well. One would not think twice to trust their judgement, and I have the same tendency.
Now, I am faced with inconsistent information. What is the truth? Is a high percentage of politicians and government officials corrupt, or is that false? Do I trust the statements by the above mentioned public figures, or do I stick to my several year old belief that I have formed based on a lot or opinions and some first hand experience?
I wonder ...
To get a good answer, I know I'd have to start defining what corruption is. I resort to Dr.Google who refers me to Wikipedia as expected.
Corruption includes, but is not limited to, the following activities [1]
1. Bribery in politics, business, or sport
2. Collusion, an agreement between two or more persons, sometimes illegal and therefore secretive, to limit open competition by deceiving, misleading, or defrauding others of their legal rights, or to obtain an objective forbidden by law typically by defrauding or gaining an unfair advantage
3. Electoral fraud
4. Embezzlement
5. Organized crime
6. Price Fixing
7. Abuse of the system
8. Cronyism (partiality to long-standing friends, especially by appointing them to positions of authority, regardless of their qualifications)
9. Influence peddling (illegal practice of using one's influence in government or connections with persons in authority to obtain favors or preferential treatment for another, usually in return for payment.)
10. Nepotism (favoritism granted to relatives or friends regardless of merit)
11. Patronage (favoritism in which a party in power rewards groups, families, ethnicities for their electoral support using illegal gifts or fraudulently-awarded appointments or government contracts.)
In general, corruption is any deviation from an ideal. When I started writing I was mainly referring to political corruption, mainly bribery in politics and bribery in general. But, corruption is more broad than that.
Now, I understand why we say that the society is corrupt. Several of the above including 7, 8, and 10 is often considered alright in many occasions.
I wonder how much I should correct my own thinking and actions before criticizing and thinking low about others.
I wonder ..
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corruption
Please share your thoughts and opinions. I would like to consider, and correct my thoughts if possible.
ReplyDeleteMy quick thoughts on reading this...
ReplyDelete- The percentage does not matter. It exists, and is visible enough. We pay bribes to get things done 'faster.'
- There is no foolproof system to check corruption. The anti-corruption cells themselves are partial towards some.
- Not many get punished for accepting bribes and such. So many others become inclined to turn the corrupt way because that seems like easy money.
- When we have scams worth crores, the smaller fish (the hundred rupees paid to RTO officials, cops etc.) seem like nothing.
- In a recent Malayalam movie I watched, Jagathy as a corrupt public figure says, "My salary is too less to run my house, so this is the only way I can make ends meet."
- Whether the extra ten rupees given to the gas wallah every time he comes, is bribe or a tip? I can cite many more examples. There is a fine line between bribe and tip in these cases.
I hope this is what you meant.