Originally posted on 30.06.2011:

KahaaN maikhane ka darwaaza Ghalib, aur kahaaN waaiz?

Some of my very esteemed friends, including Gen ‘Yogi’ Sharma and the erudite Mahibhushan Johri have chided me for my ‘misplaced’ cynicism on the ‘Lokpal’ bill. They are sanguine that this bill will check graft and usher in an era of good governance and prosperity for our country. I think I must give my reasons for my misgivings and apprehension.

Permit me to ask you the following questions: You are caught jumping the red light. The cop is filling out the ‘chalan’ for a fine of Rs 500. You see a man slipping in a hundred rupee note in the hands of the policeman and go. Do you follow him, or take the receipt for the Rs 500 which is specified for this offence? The plan which you submitted for building your dream house keeps coming back with trivial objections. An agent approaches you and tells you that he can get it cleared, if you cough out some money. Do you give the cash and be done with it? You buy a TV. The dealer says that if you pay in cash, you can save tax. Do you insist on paying through the cheque and accept your tax liability? You are buying or selling property. You are told that the ratio is ‘sixty-forty’ What do you do, insist on a ‘full cheque’ transaction?

My fear is that an overwhelming majority of even the ‘honest’ citizens of our land are living with soiled hands. We already have fairly stringent laws to check graft. But how can the laws be enforced when the rulers themselves are a part of this sordid game? Here I am tempted to mention the following more facts: The starting pay of our IAS and IPS officers is Rs 21,000 plus 51% DA which works out to a total of Rs 31,700 per month. The average salary of our much maligned ‘babus’ even after the massive increase granted by the 6th Pay Commission is just about Rs one lac per month. The annual pay bill of the entire lot of 6000 IAS officers is no more than Rs 750 crores, and that is small change for the likes of Mukesh Ambani who has spent Rs 4,500 crores on his house. They can easily ‘buy out’ not just one or two bureaucrats but the whole lot of them! The government is, itself dependant on these stinking rich businessmen who possess such large sums of money that they can purchase not just the ‘babus’ but the ministers. Remember the time when the government needed to pay a few crores of rupees to some honorable Members of Parliament to stay in office? What they did is common knowledge.

Our advocate daughter-in-law tells us that there is nothing wrong with the laws. Where we fail is in enforcement. And we fail because we lack the political will, which, in turn is due to the fact that at the grass roots level, we are all into it!

Prohibition can not be enforced if the priests themselves are given to the pleasure of drinking. If you wish to cleanse the public life, you have to punish those who give bribes. And if you try doing that, half of India will be behind bars, with no room left in the Tihar jail for even a needle to slip in!

What we need is a culture change…a revolution of sorts. The Lokpal Bill is not the solution. It is a mere illusion. I do not know why, I am compelled to turn to Ghalib for comfort. He has some thing on this subject also, and I am giving below the link to a well known ghazal. The last stanza is important. The words in this lyric are in common use. However, for those who may not know, ‘waaiz’ means a priest.

Surjit

PS

A writer friend of mine, Mirza Yawar Baig (mail ID : yawarbaig@gmail.com)  has mentioned in one of his mails that the one person whom we adore as the doyen of entrepreneurs in India has institutionalized corruption in this country, single-handed!  No prize for guessing his name.