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.  

The issue of corruption keeps getting highlighted especially during elections. All parties say they are committed to its eradication but in reality we find it is more of a lip service then concrete action. It can only be hoped that with increased  public awareness  political parties will be more sensitive to selection of their candidates.

In many surveys it is observed that corruption does not many a time rank in the top three or five concerns in the common person's list of priorities. Issues like unemployment, prices, safety etc seem to be their main worries. Political parties are therefore quick to point out that corruption is not a big issue, although they will not say it openly. Lip service and standard sermons are routinely dished out on need to reduce or prevent corruption by the various political parties from time to time.

However in reality corruption is not only corrosive in nature but also creates and perpetuates injustice in the economic and social system of our country. The government and its employees  are employed by the citizens to efficiently run the affairs of the  country and optimally use the material, financial and human resources among other resources. In a developing country like ours government also  has the  social responsibility of looking after the economically weaker sections of the society.

What has been the experience till date starting from 1947 when we got an opportunity to form our own government at the Center and in the States? Judging by the response the anti corruption social activists got, it has been a story of repeated betrayal of trust by those in power whether political or in bureaucracy across all governments and officialdom in the country. Every time funds are embezzled  it is a breach of the trust by the corrupt babu or the politician. The fraudulent appropriation of state funds for one's own use has been converted into a fine art. Like a plane flying below a certain height can escape detection by radars, corruption is also carried out in many strategic ways making its detection more and more difficult.

Corruption occurs at broadly two levels. Level one is where a citizen is in need of official documents like ration card, passport, birth or marriage certificate, driving licence, property card etc, absence of which will cause hardships or stop a process from moving forward. The concerned officials knowing the importance of these documents to the citizen demand a consideration in form of a bribe. It is also known as speed money because otherwise the documents may be issued at the will of the officials and after you are required to visit them many times.Therefore to ensure speedy delivery without any hitch one has to pay a bribe. The system has been perfected into a fine management like system.

When you go to these departments, generally you do not know where to start from or which window or official to contact. This is a deliberate ploy. Soon a person will approach you and introduce himself as an agent who can get things done for you. Knowing the system you are relieved that someone has come forward to help you. Soon he will tell you his all inclusive charges and there is no point in bargaining because that is the prevailing rate, take it or leave it. He will ask you for necessary papers and take your signature at appropriate places and tell you when you will get the document or it will be sent to your house address. Generally it is a foolproof method and rarely fails. One does not resist paying extra sum because one is interested in getting the document. To hell with morals. That is the system. If you do not pay and insist on going directly you may face many troubles and have to pay multiple visits. Thus it is overall cost beneficial to pay extra.

This lower level corruption involves large volume of interactions transacted at relatively low costs. It is Chinese style of mass production, low labor costs but high volumes. The turn over runs into very high figures. It is shared within the hierarchy and everyone is happy. Rarely any one is caught or exposed. It has become socially accepted and the involved officials do not feel ashamed. It is so very normal and has now become part of our culture. There is hardly any citizen who at one time or the other would not have paid a bribe to get above documents. Exceptions will always be there.

It is the second type of corruption which is more harmful in nature. It occurs at higher levels, involves multiple agencies, is  meticulously planned and skillfully executed. It is planned embezzlement of public funds by those holding positions of power. The siphoned money is used for personal enrichment and is used to buy benami properties and also sent into foreign accounts. Thus white money gets converted into black money. Also it goes out of the system and reduces the overall availability of funds from the national kitty. The country is poorer by the magnitude of the funds fraudulently embezzled every year and year after year.

It is this form of corruption that is responsible for the poor condition of roads in our cities and towns, for the dirty and stinking garbage lying all around us, for the poor quality of government school and hospital buildings, for the poor state of intra and inter state bus transport systems and so on. All around us we see poor quality of government infrastructure. We are terribly surprised if we see an A class government building, so used are we to seeing shabby structures. No sooner is a public project announced all concerned start finding ways of milking it to the maximum. In the process the quality of the asset to be created suffers, but who cares.

There is a joke in my city. A statue of Rana Pratap was commissioned by the municipality. When it was installed it turned out to be almost half the actual height. Where had the balance height gone to. Your guess is as good as mine. Soon there was an agitation and a new statue befitting the great king and as per his actual height had to be installed. This was a case of visible corruption. The executioner of the project will compromise on quality to adjust for the funds he is required to share with others.

Therein lies the sad story of our various government projects. The huge subsidy schemes announced for the poor end up enriching the in between channels who benefit hugely and the poor remain poor. What a sad system we have not only created but successfully sustained over the years. They have now a vice like grip over the system. They will not allow a transparent system to develop. They have amassed huge sums of money which can be used to buy anyone they desire. The RTI is a strong weapon, but many activists have lost their lives to the corrupt mafia. They have been hugely benefited and will go to any length to continue doing so.

Does it mean corruption is here to stay? Unfortunately yes, because we are a highly tolerant society worried only about ourselves. If my work gets done by hook are crook I am not bothered about the system. It is this selfish attitude that has cumulatively converted us into a mammoth vegetable who are easily exploited by corrupt politicians and officials. We go and vote again and again for corrupt politicians and are afraid to take on corrupt officials. Individually we complain and in a group we become impotent.

I have traveled to many countries and have seen how smart, clean and efficient there systems appear and work. True there is some corruption there also but the common man is not harassed. The scale is miniscule compared to India and does not impact the country's progress. The quality of life is thus much elevated and dignified.

India is today in the hands of invisible corrupt mafias who are robbing the citizens of their dignity by forcing them to be corrupt and in turn look the other way when they are robbing the state. A dispirited nation will elect weak representatives who will not tackle corruption but many of them may buckle before it. 

What is the solution? I wish I knew. But if individually we resist corruption we may be able to make a severe dent. Also trials should be expedited and punishments awarded fast. Also the illegal property of the corrupt persons upon conviction should be confiscated by the state. 

Can Indians be proud of themselves and thus the idea of India or continue to accept corruption as inevitable price of being born in India.