Opinion The dangers of affluenza

This cascade of corruption scandals suggests that our economic growth has come with a fraying of our moral code.

October 4, 2011 01:58 AM IST First published on: Oct 4, 2011 at 01:58 AM IST

O Tempora,O Mores (Oh,what times,oh what customs) was a phrase famously uttered by Roman philosopher-statesman Cicero in a speech deploring the corruption and villainy of his age. Its a phrase that resonates strongly in India right now,with the corruption storm buffeting the UPA government getting bigger and potentially more destructive with each passing day. Indeed,so unceasing and insidious has been its snowballing effect that Anna Hazares original crusade against sleaze has been almost forgotten. While various agencies differ over the actual cost to the country of the 2G scam,the invisible cost is what is gradually assuming alarming proportions. As the 19th century Austrian satirist Karl Kraus once wrote: Corruption is worse than prostitution. The latter might endanger the morals of an individual,the former invariably endangers the morals of the entire country.

That conclusion raises some inescapable truths. Somewhat inevitably,the rapidly growing economic pie and parallel rise in government revenue and expenditure since 1991 has given rise to greater opportunity for graft,and a similar growth in levels of greed and ambition. Between them,the 2G scam and the Commonwealth Games affair could end up costing an amount with a humungous number of zeros. Back in 1987,what was considered the biggest corruption scandal in Indian history,the Bofors deal,came down to a payoff involving some Rs 60 crore,the cost of putting up a modest high-rise building in Mumbai today. So,are we seeing the flip side of Indias economic growth trajectory of the last two decades; a parallel shift in morals and levels of greed?

We seem to have reached a stage where the social disease that Jesse ONeill,author of The Golden Ghetto: The Psychology of Affluence,calls affluenza has reached dangerous levels in the concentric circles of power whether it is a minister arbitrarily deciding policy,a politician overseeing an international sporting event,successful businessmen in one sector taking a shortcut to another,or a middleman bribing MPs to switch sides for a crucial vote of confidence. Tihar Jail currently houses them all.

Some months ago,in an open letter to our leaders,a group of eminent citizens including including businessman Azim Premji and former RBI governor Bimal Jalan wrote: Possibly,the biggest issue corroding the fabric of our nation is corruption. Their alarm seems justified.

Just look at the growing number of scandals in our recent past. Apart from the HDW scandal and Bofors in the mid-80s,there were no major corruption cases exposed till 1992,when Harshad Mehtas market manipulation hit the headlines. In 1993,we had the Jain hawala scandal; Sukh Rams ill-gotten wealth was uncovered in 1996. Between 2003 and 2005,the big issues were the oil-for-food scandal that cost Natwar Singh his ministry,the Taj Corridor controversy,and the PDS scam involving Arunachal CM Gegong Apang. The number of corruption scandals took a sharp upward turn in 2006 the year India recorded a 9.96 GDP growth rate when the Barak missile scandal and the Scorpene submarine deal were exposed,along with convictions in the Telgi stamp paper case. In 2007-8,we had another corruption cluster with cash-for-votes,Satyam,the Sukna land scam involving a serving lieutenant general,and a former chief minister,Madhu Koda,arrested for a mining scam.

2010-2011 has been unprecedented,though,from the Adarsh housing society to CWG,the Radia tapes,the Bellary mines case,B.S. Yeddurappa losing his chief ministership,the arrest of Amar Singh in the cash-for-votes scandal,and now the Goa mining scam.

Greed and opportunity have joined in unholy matrimony even as projects telecom,infrastructure,land acquisition,real estate reach a whole new scale of size,expenditure and revenue potential.

There is a discernible sense of a loss of moral authority worldwide ,but greed involving Wall Streets financial managers is hardly comparable to what is happening in India,where loss of faith in government,bureaucrats and official institutions clearly point to a new low in moral and ethical standards.

The upside is that the rise in number of corruption cases is because of greater transparency through instruments like the RTI. There are also other positives,pending legislations aimed at checking excessive discretion. Still,it is also like looking at the mirror,darkly,and seeing a countrys moral GPS start to point in a direction we desperately need to avoid.

dilip.bobb@expressindia.com