What is the basic premise with which politicians are elected? I think the answer would be for betterment of society through employment generation, promotion of healthcare and education and the list goes on and on. Do the politicians in India remotely subscribe to this basic principle? No. In last sixty years after independence our politicians have failed the public.
Transparency International (TI) has ranked India 85 in the corruption index. It is a shame that the country which promotes spiritualism is so corrupt. As per TI, the primary institutions of corruption in India are politics, bureaucracy and lower judiciary.
Can we clean this mess? Yes and No. I believe a country is what its people are. So we need to change the society before we can see any change. The realm of power lies with politicians and politicians are elected by the common citizens. In a thriving democracy, I can’t blame a politician for being corrupt. Anybody with a little knowledge will blame the society. Citizens vote the politician to power. And at the end of the day the common man suffers for his/her mistake. Politicians use bureaucracy to their advantage and the entire system got plagued by corruption. If citizens send a clean man to power then we can have a clean India.
Before I can blame the common man, let’s see who is a typical common man in India. 73% Indians live in village and most of them are illiterate. An illiterate man is the easiest to be blackmailed and made fool. 40% of Indians live below poverty line. To a hungry human, food is god. So politician can easily buy votes from this group of hungry and illiterate citizens. What is the cost of the vote? I don’t think it can be more than 100 rupee (2 USD) and couple of empty promises. This is the cocktail of disaster and a vicious circle. I’m writing from my experience as I’ve lived in the most backward places in India such as Orissa and Bihar. I have seen a hooligan, murderer and rapist being elected again and again. Where is the conscience of people? Well, when there is hunger there is no concise.
Unless the primary necessities are met, human brain can’t function. Couple of years back, I skipped my dinner and I was barely able to work the next morning. And 40% of Indians i.e. 400 million people face the same situation over and over again. So I really can’t blame them for being bought over by politicians.
What is the way out of this mess? I still believe the answer lies in capitalism. Poor needs money and so does the politician. Let’s go full throttle with industrialization and economic development. Our development will bring in more money into society. It will fill the pocket of politicians and poor as well. Poor will eat well and will have a house to live. Once poor have enough to eat, they will certainly send their kids to school. Thus the next generation will be educated. An educated person with enough to eat will be the catalyst of further growth and prosperity. This new generation of Indians can’t be bought over by politicians. New generation of Indians will be above the social divide such as caste, religion, language and region. We can see a real social change within one generation.
The former President of India APJ Abdul Kalam rightly said that 30% of Indian politicians are non-corrupt and these leaders are our last hope. They should go all out to de-regulate every sector in economy and bring in transparency as much as possible. If we can sustain the 9% growth rate we can wipe out extreme poverty in two decades and this development will self-sustain a positive cycle of growth.