The issue of corruption in India and the concern to address it, this really came to the public domain when in the late 1980s the then Prime Minister of India, Rajiv Gandhi made the frank admission that out of every rupee meant for public welfare, only 10 paisa reaches them. The rest is being siphoned off along the way. And indeed just imagine the kind of development and growth we will witness if we can plug the missing 90% or so of the public fund that keeps pouring in. The famous words by former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi made during the Congress Plenary Session in then Bombay can indeed be taken as a starting point on how public imagination was fuelled to tackle corruption. And off course for people of Nagaland this siphoning off of huge public money continues as is evident from the deteriorating public services like roads etc. The phenomenon of roads breaking down, even as the latest Ford, Mitsubushi or Toyota SUVs, zigzag across town is a common sight these days. Nagaland should be a good testing ground to document the absolute corruption having taken place all these years. And almost 20 years later after Rajiv Gandhi’s admission, corruption in India has become even bigger than ever before. The political will to take on corruption is sorely missing and so for all these years despite the concern expressed nothing much could be done. This is evident from the fact that as per the Transparency International ranking of nations based on the level of corruption India slipped to 87th spot in 2010 from 84th in 2009. The World Bank has also argued in its latest report – “India aid programmes are beset by corruption, bad administration and under-payments.”
So given the problem of large scale corruption taking place and also the apathy on the part of the politicians and also public, the ‘India Against Corruption’ movement started by social activist Anna Hazare is just what is needed to start tackling corruption. And twenty years or so back when we were all idealizing on fighting this menace, it was felt by most people at that time that there will have to be a ‘people’s movement’ if we are to win the battle against corruption. Going by the way Anna Hazare has mobilized ordinary people across the country—that time has indeed come—aptly coined as the second freedom struggle. All these years although we feel proud of our democracy, of having peaceful elections or following the parliamentary tradition, yet it must be said that people of this country have not been able to exercise their power either out of ignorance or plain apathy. Anna Hazare’s campaign in the last few months was able to tap into this ‘people’s power’ which had been lying idle. Under the leadership of Anna Hazare, there has truly been an awakening of people’s consciousness and the realization that in a democracy it is the will of the people which is paramount. The manner in which the political establishment, cutting across parties and Parliament, was made to literally bow down to the demands of the Anna Hazare campaign, goes to show that if people remain vigilant, united and actively take part in the running of our democracy, then these are the best checks and balances against abuse of power and corruption.
So given the problem of large scale corruption taking place and also the apathy on the part of the politicians and also public, the ‘India Against Corruption’ movement started by social activist Anna Hazare is just what is needed to start tackling corruption. And twenty years or so back when we were all idealizing on fighting this menace, it was felt by most people at that time that there will have to be a ‘people’s movement’ if we are to win the battle against corruption. Going by the way Anna Hazare has mobilized ordinary people across the country—that time has indeed come—aptly coined as the second freedom struggle. All these years although we feel proud of our democracy, of having peaceful elections or following the parliamentary tradition, yet it must be said that people of this country have not been able to exercise their power either out of ignorance or plain apathy. Anna Hazare’s campaign in the last few months was able to tap into this ‘people’s power’ which had been lying idle. Under the leadership of Anna Hazare, there has truly been an awakening of people’s consciousness and the realization that in a democracy it is the will of the people which is paramount. The manner in which the political establishment, cutting across parties and Parliament, was made to literally bow down to the demands of the Anna Hazare campaign, goes to show that if people remain vigilant, united and actively take part in the running of our democracy, then these are the best checks and balances against abuse of power and corruption.
