Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh has recently written a letter to all of his cabinet colleagues and Chief Ministers of all states to “clean up corruption in the highest level of offices” and to “give up all business interest”. This ‘clean up code’ coming from the Prime Minister is highly appreciated although it has to be said that with whatever good intention the PM may have taken this initiative, the move itself is too idealistic or a fantasy so to say. The PM’s ‘Code of Conduct’ is neither going to generate much interest from the political class and it is unlikely that anything will be done to follow up on this noble exercise of fighting corruption. Our politicians will be much more interested in enhancing such things as their salary or the more lucrative MP Local Area Development Fund. The demand is for Rs.5 crore, up from the existing Rs.2 crore. In fact, in a report tabled in the Lok Sabha in December 2008, the parliamentary committee on MPLADS recommended an enhancement to Rs.10 crore. Whatever may be the merit or argument of having such funds ‘meant for the people’ or ‘constituencies’ the demand for more is impossible to justify. An increase to Rs.5 crore will entail an annual outlay of Rs.4, 000 crore as against Rs.1, 600 crore now. There have also been allegations that Chief Ministers are in the habit of asking party MPs to divert some of the funds meant for constituency development to the coffers of the party. At the end it seems that such high sounding development plans are at best schemes for patronage and the wastage of public funds.
And so given the clamor for more privileges and mega bonuses at the expense of the public, the latest call from the PM though welcomed will end up as a paper exercise. And since it is merely a ‘code of conduct’ nothing much should be expected in terms of outcomes. Nevertheless one should neither rubbish the issue of corruption that is destroying our system. The problem is real as the PM has understood it correctly. According to the letter, Manmohan Singh wants his ministers to disclose details of their business interests, severe all connections and disinvest themselves of the ownership of these businesses before they are appointed as ministers. State and Union Ministers should announce their assets and liabilities. Moreover their shareholdings in listed companies should also be declared. The code emphasizes that details of the assets should include particulars of all immovable properties and the value of shares and debentures, cash holdings and jewellery. The code also asks ministers to not start any new business after joining government. It requires that even the family members of the ministers not be involved with any business transactions of any PSU.
However more than a code what will be required are effective tools that will be able to actually clamp down on the corrupt and the system that it thrives on. For instance all of us know that benami transaction is prohibited by law (except in some cases as mentioned). While the law has not been adhered to, governments have developed cold feet on the issue because the Act would hurt the political class more than anybody else. Fighting corruption will be only eyewash if we do not bring changes to the system or bring about tools that enable us to do this. And in order to transform the status quo we need strong laws as well as the political will to fight corruption. Otherwise everything else is academic.
