With corruption’s systemic expanding with impunity, Nagas need to reflectively discern and ask whether they are being swept away in its crushing tide. The continuous practice and presence of corruption in the Naga context is not just structural and systemic, but also relational. The relational aspect compromises the entire society. The voices protesting against the appalling state of corruption have not reached critical mass and are yet to become a sustained and affective force to overturn the culture of corruption. However, the irony is not lost as the ‘powers that be’ benefit the most at the expense of the poor and marginalized.
Corruption erodes public trust in leaders, governments, public institutions, and it undermines the social contract. Corruption comes in different forms and guises. For instance, the World Bank in their Brief on Combating Corruption points out how corruption might impact service delivery when an official asks for bribes to perform routine services, or how it might unfairly determine the winners of government contracts with awards favoring relatives, friends, party workers or business associates of government officials. The World Bank goes on to add that corruption, “might come in the form of state capture, distorting how institutes work and who controls them.” This, it says, is “often the costliest in terms of overall economic impact.” Successive reports of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), Nagaland have detailed this aspect at length.
In its Brief on Combating Corruption, the World Bank said it “considers corruption a major challenge to its twin goals of ending extreme poverty by 2030, and boosting shared prosperity for the poorest 40 percent of people in developing countries.” It adds that “corruption has a disproportionate impact on the poor and most vulnerable, increasing costs and reducing access to services, including health, education and justice.” Accordingly, empirical studies show that the poor pay the highest percentage of their income in bribes which induces conditions that create inequity.
The fight against corruption is difficult since corruption like the hydra has many heads. While putting down one, another arises. To triumph over corruption, the entire network of corruption must be removed. Making inroads against corruption in the Naga context requires more than transparency and accountability. It requires unwavering commitment and efforts to overcome vested interests that are based on kinship and community relationships at all levels.
Corruption in the Naga context has a collective and societal demeanor. Therefore, initiating a public discourse around it becomes problematic. In fact, at times, corruption seems to be the least of the people’s worries against the backdrop of continuous militarization and armed conflict over many generations. Yet, the two go hand in hand as the conflict situation contributes to breeding and institutionalizing corruption.
The situation is embedded in a larger State structure rife with violence and corruption that increases people’s vulnerability to corruption. Understanding this is vital. The fact of the matter is that the impunity of corruption has become so alarming that many people have resigned or surrendered themselves to its crushing presence. Many have become cynical to the extent that they unwittingly prevent any possibilities of exploring creative solutions to end it.
An ad-hoc approach against corruption is counter-productive, and, in fact, only strengthens the forces that fuel corruption. If there is to be an organized movement against corruption in the Naga context, it needs to be able to communicate the broader benefits of uprooting it. The strategy to address corruption needs to be all encompassing and fully inclusive in its scope. And at its core, it needs to engender and renew public trust and confidence. The Naga public needs to engage with corruption in order to eradicate it and for Naga society to transform.
Nagas need to wake up and stop giving in to corruption which is eating away at our entire way of life.
