The Hindu Business Line : Anti-graft front

THE Transparency International (TI) which already has a presence in New Delhi is establishing chapters in States. The Tamil Nadu chapter, comprising some of the eminent public figures as members of its managing committee, was inaugurated on March 30 by Mr L. C. Jain, Gandhian economist and former member of the Planning Commission, at a meeting presided over by the tax expert, Dr Raja J. Chelliah, who also heads the State chapter. The 80 or so strong glitterati of the city, all but a sprinkling in their sprightly 70s, displayed, as was only to be expected, a touching faith in the chapter being able to strike the fear of God into the corrupt.

There is already a Sadachar Bharati, led by the former President, Mr R. Venkataraman, which has about 50 nationally renowned personages. This, in turn, is a replica of the Sadachar Samiti started by Gulzarilal Nanda, immediately after he assumed charge as the Union Home Minister in 1964, with a stentorian pledge to eradicate corruption within two years. When 1966 came and the end to corruption was nowhere in sight, Nanda issued a statement adducing plausible arguments for not tendering his resignation.

Any number of voluntary organisations have sprouted vowing to fight corruption tooth and nail and with all their might and main. They certainly deserve encouragement for at least rousing the people's awareness of their duty to stand up to the perpetrators of the evil. In their totality, however, these efforts have not amounted to much. India continues to be within the first 20 among 91 countries and 2.7 on a scale of 10 in corruption perception index.

The corrupt are not only flourishing, but as the Editor of The Hindu, Mr N. Ravi, said at the launch of the TI's Chennai chapter, have become blatant and brazen in their ways. Far from being ostracised, as was urged by the Santhanam Committee on Prevention of Corruption, they are eagerly invited and welcomed to participate in official and social functions, and are nominated as party candidates and even sworn in as Ministers.

It is only of late that there is some pretence of prosecuting prominent personages of the political class for corruption, assets disproportionate to known sources of income and misuse of power and authority to amass ill-gotten wealth. But these cases invariably end in a fiasco; the witnesses turn hostile, or the prosecuting agencies muck up the trial.

The most pernicious development poisoning the very fount of rectitude is the admission by the Chief Justice of India that at least 20 per cent of the members of the higher judiciary are corrupt. The Vice President of the TI India, Mr S. D. Sharma, says that the organisation will adopt Gandhian methods and avoid a confrontationist approach. This must be music to the ears of the rapacious rascals with their hands in the till who no doubt have nothing but the very best wishes for the new chapter of TI in Tamil Nadu!

B. S. Raghavan

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