Indians who have migrated to greener pastures abroad are popularly known as Non Resident Indians (NRI). They have removed themselves from India but have not been able to remove India from themselves. This aspect comes out in many forms when the interact with Resident Indians. Recently there are reports in papers that a large number of NRI's plan to come to India to canvass for candidates of certain political parties. Is this proper as they are no longer citizens of India but are now citizens of the country of their adoption.

During my interactions with them both in India and abroad I have found them full of advice as to how India and Indians should develop their country to catch up with advanced countries. At first I believed this was out of genuine concern but I was soon to find out that it was more out of we and they attitude. By becoming foreign citizens they appropriated to themselves the achievements of that country and earned the right to advice us desis how to rise to their level.  

Many years back I had just finished a sumptuous dinner at the residence of a NRI staying near Washington,USA, when the host stumped me by asking 'are trains running on time in India'. When I replied in the affirmative, he suddenly lost his cool and in a raised voice told me that it is next to impossible for Indians to run them on time. I felt this deserves a strong rebuttal but before I could do so, the hostess gestured me to keep quiet. The host retired in anger. The hostess then told me something which has stayed with me since. She said most of the NRI's convince themselves that India is a country full of problems and thus not worth living in. This gives them the necessary impetus to migrate. They then justify the decision to themselves very often by continuing to believe that things in India cannot improve. So if someone challenges their negative beliefs about India, they feel their reason to migrate was not a proper decision. Next time when someone asked me about conditions back home I would keep this incident in my mind and politely state that  they need to improve considerably. Resident Indians have to support NRI's morale.

Another time again in USA but a different city, I was being bombarded with loads of advice as to how India should conduct its economy, foreign affairs, IT sector etc by NRI's of all ages in a post Diwali party. After politely listening for some time I asked them that if they had such good advice to offer, why did they not come back and implement these in India. One by one they melted away. Only an elderly gentleman who heard it complimented me. Imagine in that party an elderly person, very proudly told me that he had a profitable medium scale industry running profitably in the city I belonged to, and had sold it to settle in USA, where he was now working on a daily wager basis. But he was mighty proud that he had made it to USA.

Another time I and my two colleagues were visiting the house of a NRI doctor in USA. After some time I went out into the spacious garden and was admiring it when I heard an old lady asking me when I was going back to India. I told her in that very week. She suddenly caught me by my both shoulders and pleaded that I should take her also, as her son would never send her to India. There were tears in her eyes. I was feeling embarrassed and wondering that if the son came out he might feel that I must have said something which has made his mother start crying. She went on to tell me that she is a widow who is now terribly lonely. Her son and daughter both go out for work and their child is busy in his own world. In the five bedroom house all she was advised to spend her time was to watch TV -- how much could she watch. She said she wanted to go back to her own house in India and she could spend time interacting with her neighbors and visiting temples etc. The son came out and asked me is she requesting you to take her to India. I felt relieved and said yes. He then said how can he allow her to stay alone in India at such an advanced age. I then asked him why does he not go back to India. He looked shocked as to how  could I asked such question. Going back was not an option. He stated she will soon become normal and this was a regular affair.

In my interactions with NRI's I found them to be very appreciative of the equal opportunities and the religious freedom they provided to everyone including immigrants. But to my surprise they wanted India to be less secular and wanted only one religion to dominate. While they enjoyed the fruits of liberalism in their adopted countries they did not want the same to apply in the country they had willingly deserted. I had many a heated debates with a few NRI's on this attitude of theirs. I could sense a desire in them that India should develop and become strong so that they could shine in its reflected glory even though technically they were no longer Indians. Here they wanted us to work to improve there status abroad!

Upon returning back to India I have found the NRI feels a strange sense of freedom in India. He can break rules, spit anywhere, break queues, eat at roadside stalls and buy dresses and medicines in bulk to take back home. It was then that I understood he yearns the freedom and liberties chaotic India provides to its citizens. The NRI wants all these periodically to bolster his morale in an otherwise a strange and regulated culture. But he is hooked to dollars and its buying power. That is his weakness which keeps him away from India.

He may be a foreign citizen but at heart he is an Indian citizen -- forever and thus he keeps advising and interfering in our domestic affairs. As per our tolerant culture we will allow it -- after all once an Indian always an Indian. After all it is the NRI who chose to become a third class citizen of a first class country unlike most of us who are first class citizens of a ____  class country. 

The state of our society today forces us to think about its ability to move India to a position of leadership in the committee of nations. Commensurate with the size of our country, its gigantic population, its antiquity, its economic clout we should have been a vibrant player on the world stage. But in reality we are anything but that.

Today we are a huge market for world products ranging from cosmetics to defence items. We keep on importing technologies and are proud that we can operate them efficiently. We are a nation of operators. Even as the economy of our country has expanded many times over, the vast majority of our population are economically where they where at the time of independence, only the rupee value has changed.

Today also our cities, towns and villages are full of vast areas within them which are devoid of appropriate civic facilities. Today also nearly 50-60% of our population have no toilets and defecate in the open. Drinking water and electricity is not available to nearly half our population or more. Pucca road connectivity to thousands of our villages does not exist. In municipal areas the condition of roads is usually pathetic more so after every monsoon.

There is dirt all around us in our cities and towns. Government hospitals and schools are best avoided unless there is no choice. The general infrastructure is of a very low standard. There is chaotic traffic on our roads. Trains are jam packed in the unreserved classes. state transport buses are a pain to travel in.

One can go on and on but that is not the purpose. One does not want to be seen as being pessimistic, because by all accounts the country has achieved lot of progress in all fields. However the question to be asked is could the fruits of the progress have been more equitably distributed among the citizens and could the kitty have been much larger? What is responsible for this?

At the time of our independence struggle, to our extreme good fortune, it was led by a galaxy of great persons who were equally very effective leaders. They understood the culture and ethos of our country and its people very significantly. All this helped them to connect with the people in a way no one has been since Nehru's passing away. The quality of our political leadership has been going downhill ever since. But is it limited to only politics that we are suffering. In fact there is a tremendous lack of leadership in all fields in the country today.

Let us look at the reality and the myth of our society.

The Myth :

Pre and post independence the Indian society basked in the glory of being led by leaders having both integrity and vision. They were selfless too and while working towards a goal were not sure of achieving them in their lifetime. Yet they worked and led with zeal and passion. The society was as ridden with timeless characteristics of cast and communal divisions. The fight for freedom and its attainment through non violence raised India's stock high in the world. Its leaders especially Gandhi and after independence Nehru were highly revered, listened to and commanded far more respect than the India of that time deserved. This led the the intelligentsia to believe that India was a country which had influence and had acquired its place in the world. An exaggerated sense of grandeur set in and this was to result in failures much later on.

The Reality :

In reality Indians were and are as divided into various casts and divisions as they were throughout history, all through the independence struggle and after it also till today. Education has not changed the mindset of people. Indians are today also as divided as they were earlier on many decades ago. Cast and communal divisions are practiced with associated discrimination today also but with a finesse. A third rate person of one caste is preferable over a first rate person of another caste. Persons of one religion find it difficult to get house on sale or rent in areas where other religion dominates. Intercaste marriages can lead to honour killing even in cosmopolitan cities. Merit is no longer being encouraged. 

The Result :

In the background of the myth that we have a status which in reality we did not deserve our leadership coolly exploited the situation. They did not exert themselves to create a vision of India were its citizens would get good governance and minimal civic facilities as a matter of right. The  citizens also basked in reflected glory of the nineteen forties and fifties till the Chinese taught us a lesson in 1962. We still did not learn a lesson. Cover up is one great contribution of our governments. Truth should not come out.

Instead of micro planning to start from the individual needs and then go higher, we started the opposite way. Macro projects were announced and executed. Scarce finances were directed in setting up a large public sector which created a class of employees who exploited the system gainfully. The fiscally weak private sector did not cover itself with glory either. They connived to continue the license raj so that they could prosper without competition. Social justice was sought to be dispensed through reservations. Even third generation affluent persons children are enjoying caste based reservations. They can never be done away with. Instead of building a merit based society we have successfully created a non merit based society. The more duffer one is the higher is his chance of getting state benefits. One with merit has to fight for his place or accept a lower station in life or emigrate.

Why were corporations which would build toilets in thousands created so that every house had one. Some of you may laugh but this showed how we do not care and tolerate. Why were the villages not connected with good quality roads. Again misplaced emphasis. Why were not good quality school buildings made. 

After all Gandhiji had said that whenever money has to be spent ask will it wipe the tear from the eye of the poor. If making basic facilities reach the poor was the objective then the strategies would have been created, If the vision was to treat every Indian humanely the where withall could have been worked out.

The vision decides the objective and it decides the strategies to be adopted. Service to the poor was always a lip service. Funds earmarked for them were to be siphoned off. In a tolerant society a large number of public officials and politicians allegedly enriched themselves. Such persons got repeatedly elected or corrupt officials got promote and both got to keep their illegal earnings. Corruption was seen as being a successful enterprise and it soon multiplied itself in the society.

Today we are all highly suspicious of government programs simply because we do not have good and inspiring leaders to oversee their executions. making money is the objective today. The politicians get votes and in turn the voters get scams and empty promises.

Even six decades after independence we have failed to provide basic facilities to our citizens like sanitation, drinking water, electricity, health care, job related education, good roads etc. We are satisfied in small achievements and have lost the ability to think big. Pygmy leaders and planners have still smaller pygmy visions. Even they are not achieved in full. 

How long will we have to suffer poor leadership, conniving officials and rampant corruption perhaps even god cannot tell. But we must go out and cast our vote in the coming elections hoping yet again that a good government will deliver. 

The world's largest electoral exercise is underway at the moment in India. The largest democracy holds elections after every five years to elect a new government. A staggering number of 814.5 million of voters are registered with the election commission as of January 2014 and nearly 8 million more are likely to be added based on a special drive carried out recently for new voters registration. By all yardsticks of comparison it is a mammoth task.

The number of polling stations to be set up across the country will be 9,30,000 in all sort of terrains. Since many years now voters press their choice button on Electronic Voting Machines known as EVM's. It has made counting very easy, transparent and fast. results are now available in a few hours after counting begins. each EVM can record a total of 3,840 vote and cater to a maximum of 64 candidates. A total of 18,78,306 EVM's will be used during the coming elections.

Elections were held for the first time in India in 1952 and a sum of Rs 10.45 crore was spent. In the last elections held in 2014 a sum of Rs 1,300 crore was spent. It is now estimated that the 2014 elections will cost around Rs 3,500 crore to the Election Commission and Rs 7,000 to 8,000 crore to the central and state governments.   A study conducted by the Centre for Media Studies estimates that a sum of Rs 30,000 crores will be spent by government, political parties and various candidates in the coming elections. Elections are no longer cheap.

In the 2009 elections out of a  total of 8,070 candidates 6,829 lost their security deposits because they failed to poll a minimum of one sixth of the total valid votes polled. Of the total candidates 7,514 were men and only 556 were women. A total of 364 political parties were in the fray of which seven were national parties, 34 were state parties and the rest were registered only parties The limit of Rs 70 lakhs is the maximum a candidate can spend on his Lok Sabha election , while it is Rs 54 lakhs in Goa, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim.

In the 2004 elections a total of 67.14 crore persons  were registered as voters in the country.The all India average voter turn out was 58.07 %, with highest voter turn out in Nagaland of 91.77% and lowest in J&K were only 35.2% cast their votes. In 2009 elections about 71 crore voters were involved. This figure is now around 82 crore this time.

All elections in India are conducted by the Election Commission of India, which is headed by an Chief Election Commissioner and has two Election Commissioners as colleagues. The Election Commission is a constitutional body and has since past many elections conducted the elections in the country with increasing efficiency and in a fair and just manner. This has increased the confidence of the voters and every election the percent voting has registered an increase. Indian elections are seen world wide as an gigantic exercise but conducted in a free and fair manner. Considerable credit goes to the Election Commission for this.

Another feature of Indian elections is that they are held in phases lasting over several days. The 2014 elections will be held in seven phases over a period of more than a month. One of the reason for thus is the need for providing security at the various polling booths. The deployment of security forces needs to be planned properly. A large number of polling officials drawn from various government departments is employed on the polling days to man the polling booths. 

Nowadays because of EVM's the counting is very fast and generally all the results become available by late evening. The trends are known within a couple of hours of counting. Lok Sabha has 543 members and on an average a MP represents anywhere up to 15 lakhs population depending on the population density of different states. There are some seats which are reserved for SC/ST and there is no cap on how many candidates can contest from a constituency.

The campaigning for the 2014 elections scheduled for April / May has already begun. On May 16th we will come ti know who will be in a position to form the new government based on the largest election exercise in the world. 

The corruption in India is oppressive and severely affects the poor at all stages of their living. The lower and middle class are also affected but are able to bear it. The upper middle class uses it as a weapon to get its jobs expedited and does not mind it. The rich consider it a business expense and use it skillfully to expand their span of influence in economics, politics and other areas of interest to them.

It is the poor who face the maximum impact of a corrupt system and proportionately are the worst hit. The amount of loss they have to bear is a very high percentage of their earning compared to other economic groups placed above them. What is interesting to note is that every economic group exploits the group below it to fill its coffers. It is rarely the other way around.

The poor make the largest class and thus are able to generate small amounts per person but cumulatively are able to generate  huge volumes in the corruption markets. It is like the Chinese labour which is very cheap but because of huge volumes are able to produce very large numbers giving the Chinese economy a distinct competitive advantage in international markets. In both cases it is the exploiter who gets the advantage at the cost of the exploited. The latter are unable to hit back.

The corrupt have no qualms at exploiting the downtrodden. An examplewill illustrate this. Many years back I happened to be at a railway station standing next to a ticket issuing window. Soon tribal laborers would approach me and in their colloquial language ask me to read what is the value of the rail ticket issued to them.I would tell them the figure and they would move on. I got curious and asked the stall owner at a slight distance away. He told me that the festival of Holi was going to be celebrated in a few days time. Every year the  tribals  who work as laborers in the city have a tradition of going home in very large numbers for a week or so. They are all illiterate. So the journey ticket for which they were required to pay Rs 5, the ticket issuer would issue them a ticket for Rs 3 and pocket the difference. If it stopped here only it would still be tolerable. But inside the train the ticket collector knowing what his colleagues at the station were doing would ask them fir the ticket. Knowing that they were traveling at lower value ticket he would threaten them and they would have to shell out an extra rupee or two to continue. So now they had come out with this defense mechanism to be sure that they had a ticket of the proper value.

Small amount per ticket but say a thousand tribals  traveled in a day the total comes to around Rs two thousand a day, not a bad amount for a day's corrupt hard work. Whom are they exploiting, the poorest of the poor. Low amounts high volumes.

Those indulging in corruption have successfully mastered the art of avoiding their consciences by becoming indifferent to it. Therefore they are able to resort to heartless exploitation by indulging in corrupt  practices. The fact that most of the time they are government employees whose service is secured till retirement gives them a unbeatable clout. The are operating in a 99% safe environment. 

In almost all corruption transactions there is one gainer and multiple losers. In the latter are the one who is forced to part with money and the government which gets less revenue. The government is custodian of public money and thus all citizens are the ultimate losers. At lower levels it is considered that the petty official is acting as a front for senior officials with whom he has to share the loot. Let me illustrate with another simple example again from the railways.

I was in need of retirement room facility for one night while travelling with my wife and our young child. I was told at the counter that two beds were available at the dormitory and I should go the station office master's office for their allotment. I was told that each bed costs Rs 10 per night and I should pay Rs 40 for two beds. The difference was being collected for being given to the station master who had kept a quota of two beds per day for this purpose. The clerk told me that if I did not pay, then he would have to pay from his pocket. I had no option. Again small amounts, assured returns resulting into high volumes on a cumulative basis.

The law enforcers are equally ferocious in their collection drives. I was once traveling from Varanasi to Kolkata  by train. Those were the days of rice shortage in the country and interstate movement of rice was banned. My train would be crossing from UP to Bihar and reaching Patna in about 2-3 hours time. I took my seat in one of the coupes of the second class sleeper. About 15 minutes before the departure a rush of single ladies with their faces covered by sarees entered the compartment and sat in all the passages on the side and in between the seats,huddled together. I enquired from my co passengers who told me this was a daily affair and these ladies were carrying 2-3 kgs of rice to Patna where they wuld sell it for a small profit. Poverty and shortages can make people do anything for a living. They were very poor and were being used as carriers. However what followed was interesting. A few minutes before the train departure time a single policeman entered the compartment. He had a stick in his hand by which he would tap on the head of each lady. As soon as she was hit  she would raise a hand and hand over one rupee to the policeman. He collected a rupee each from all the ladies in the compartment. This was also a daily affair I was told. 

What was interesting was that all of us were watching and the policeman wa openly collecting his share for  allowing this 'illegal' trade by the poorest of the poor. Low amount but high volume. 

Can this form of lower level corruption be eliminated from our society. It is immune to type of government or who ever is in command. It is pure class exploitation. But does it mean that it cannot be tackled or reduced. One way is by the poor getting educated and becoming aware of their rights. It seems to be a slow progress but is going on. Second is a mechanism which fights on their behalf like NGO's. They exist and are doing a reasonably good job. Again impact is slow and coverage is limited. The adoption of technology as is done by the railways through Irctc or Income Tax for filing returns or getting refund orders and by banks is helping to spread transparency in a big way simultaneously. Mere passing of laws is not going to reduce or arrest corruption that affects the poor.

Another area of big corruption is the hijacking of benefits that should reach the poor. The middlemen in the distribution chain and involved officials implementing the various social and welfare policies operate in league to either siphon or divert the goods and services from the intended beneficiaries. Technology can be employed here also but is not going to be easy. However it has been done successfully but in  a very limited scale as it requires a very dedicated person/s to oversee them.

It is the citizens who have to be alert and unitedly fight the corrupt system to ensure they get their legitimate dues. The corrupt politicians and officials have become emotionless and heartless. They see exploitation and treasury loot as their divine right. The fight will go on but how long. A good government can reduce the period and is the need of the hour.