Corruption in Public Life

It has been widely reported in the press that one Mohammad Ali, a lieutenant of Dawood Ibrahim (India's most wanted), runs the Mumbai docks like his personal fiefdom and not a leaf moves without his knowledge. Government sources have been cited in the press as having reported a hawala transfer of Rs. 120 crores from Mohammad Ali to Dawood - it is pertinent to note that Government sources are aware of such huge transfers but they do not/cannot block such transfers. If criminal transfer of funds of such huge denominations are noted and nothing is done by the authorities, is it wrong to conclude that the politician-bureaucrat-police-criminal nexus is alive and thriving?!!? What should be done to break this nexus - as the stakes involved are huge and the money mind boggling.

Elections require huge funds - and these funds are raised by politicians through businessmen by generating black money. The best way to bypass this rot would be to have a transparent fund raising system for political parties. Our tax laws should be amended so as to give a tax deduction for donations made to registered, recognised Political Parties. A ceiling should be laid for the amount to be spent on elections - and the ceiling should be practical and sufficiently large to ensure transparency. Once the political need for black money is extinguished, the business community will not have the pressure to perpetuate this practice.

The economic laws should be given teeth so that quick and summary justice is meted out to economic offenders - howsoever mighty they are. The justice should not only be done - but it should be seen to be done - adequate publicity should be given and the offenders shamed in public so that an example is set and others are warned. So, even if a person is a well known industrialist, politician, bureaucrat or public servant, if convicted, should be shamed and sent behind bars for a long time.