Opinion From Bhopal to Patna

The expanding middle ground in this debate should now force the government to look for creative solutions that may emerge from the existing constitutional framework to attack the all-pervasive corruption in the delivery of public goods and services which affects the common man the most.

The larger debate should focus on how to reinvent the entire state machinery to manage the rising aspirations of a billion-plus people. A new Lokpal can only be seen as a significant component of this larger exercise. It will be a mistake to project it as a magic pill which will cleanse the system overnight.

In this context,it is very important to push creative ideas to win smaller battles against corruption. Some state governments have already shown the way on how to do this. The governments of Madhya Pradesh,Bihar and Uttar Pradesh have enacted a new law which seeks to penalise government officials who fail to deliver key services to the people.

The lead in this regard was taken by MP which has enacted the Madhya Pradesh Public Services Guarantee Act 2010 and the Madhya Pradesh Special Courts Bill 2011,which was recently passed by the legislature. The Public Services Guarantee Act is aimed at forcing government officials to deliver notified services to the citizens within a specified time limit,failing which a penalty of up to Rs 5,000 per day can be imposed on the concerned official in charge of providing such services. The Special Courts Bill provides for confiscation of the property held by public servants acquired through illegal means. All public servants ranging from the chief minister and sarpanch at the political level to the chief secretary and Class IV employees at the administrative level are covered by the new law. These laws are also being implemented in Bihar and hopefully will spread to other states.

Thus a local police station head who refuses to file a complaint or delays acting on a complaint can be brought under the Public Services Guarantee Act. Similarly if a village sarpanch refuses to register a person under the employment guarantee scheme the new law can be invoked. State governments would also do well to appoint certified NGOs as ombudsmen who can act as facilitators in invoking such laws on behalf of citizens. This may be required in rural India in areas where there may not be enough awareness among the people to seek justice under established laws.

The bill enabling the confiscation of assets disproportionate to the incomes of public servants also cuts at the root of corruption. While MP has taken a lead in this,Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had made a promise to the electorate during the assembly elections last year that he would enact a similar law. Under this legislation,the state government,on the basis of prima facie evidence,can make an application before a special court for confiscation of such property. Of course,this law places some discretion at the hands of the state government which can be misused. Again,the assessment of prima facie evidence on disproportionate assets before moving to confiscate property must be done in a fair and rigorous manner.

Similarly,Bihar has also made it obligatory for government servants to declare their personal and immediate family assets. The existing Central law under the Central Civil Services (Conduct) Rules 1964 also has a provision making it obligatory for civil servants to declare their assets from time to time as an internal exercise. The Centre should make this public so that it acts as a form of deterrent against potential acts of corruption.

So there is ample scope to leverage existing legal and administrative mechanisms to tackle corruption provided there is the political will to do so. Creative changes in existing legislation at the Central and state levels could also make a lot of difference in the fight against corruption. Recently,at an Indian Express

Idea Exchange session,the chief economic adviser in the finance ministry,Kaushik Basu,a micro-economist with a passion for game theory,suggested a simple idea. The current law on bribery creates a cosy understanding between the bribe-giver and the bribe-taker as it seeks to punish both equally. The bribe-giver often does so under duress for no one wants to pay a bribe for getting simple services like a driving licence or passport. So Basu suggests that the law should be amended to give total immunity to the bribe-giver. This will make the bribe-taker very wary and incentivise the bribe-giver to complain to the authorities even after paying a bribe.

We also need to amend current laws which make it very difficult to get Central and state government sanction to prosecute corrupt bureaucrats. Bureaucrats need to be brought out of this comfort zone and this will automatically break the potential nexus with their political masters who use them to legitimise irregular practices. Similarly,reform of electoral funding could break the deep nexus between corporates and the political class which is also at the root of various big scams. You don’t need a draconian Lokpal bill if the Centre and state governments can implement some of these ideas which,taken together,can create a substantive impact on governance.

The writer is Managing Editor,‘The Financial Express’