Corruption is operationally defined as the abuse of entrusted power for private gain. In philosophical, theological, or moral discussions, corruption is spiritual or moral impurity or deviation from an ideal. However the common perception about corruption is that which occurs in politics, public contracting and in the private sector.
According to the Global Corruption Barometer 2010:
6 out of 10 people say corruption has increased in the last three years
1 in 4 people report paying bribes in the last year
29% people report paying bribes to the police
8 out of 10 people say political parties are corrupt
50% of the people say their government’s anti corruption efforts are ineffective
The Enron scandal, revealed in October 2001, eventually led to the bankruptcy of the Enron Corporation, an American energy company based in Houston, Texas, and the dissolution of Arthur Andersen, which was one of the five largest audit and accountancy partnerships in the world. In addition to being the largest bankruptcy reorganization in American history at that time, Enron was attributed as the biggest audit failure.
Harshad Shantila Mehta was an Indian stockbroker. He is alleged to have engineered the rise in the BSE stock exchange in 1992. Exploiting several loopholes in the banking system, Mehta and his associates siphoned off funds (to the tune of Rs 4000 crores) from inter-bank transactions and bought shares heavily at a premium across many segments, triggering a rise in the Sensex. When the scheme was exposed, banks started demanding their money back, causing a great stock market collapse and immense loss to the ordinary investor. Mehta died in 2002 with many litigations still pending against him.
Corruption in high places first came to the forefront in India with the Bofors scam. The Adarsh Building scam, CWG (Commonwealth Games) scam, 2G Spectrum scam and the Bellary Mines scam making news headlines and scalping those in the highest echelons of power; corruption has been catapulted to the number one problem of our polity.
One way to fight this menace is through a rigorous and thorough study of the scale and magnitude of this problem. Corruption can take various forms and have an impact on people, politics and the economy in a multitude of ways. A good example of such an anti corruption think tank is Transparency International (www.transparency.org) which comes out with an annual C.P.I (Corruption Perceptions Index) ranking countries by measuring the perceived levels of public sector corruption. According to the 2010 report Denmark, New Zealand and Singapore were the least corrupt and came first. India ranked 87 out of 178. Pakistan was placed at 143.
Another powerful and effective way to fight corruption is through active confrontation of the political establishment by civil society through peaceful and non-violent agitation. Engaging the people’s representatives to adopt anti-corruption legislation like the Lokpal, Anna Hazare and his dedicated team of followers showed how people power can be utilized to ensure politicians listen to people regarding putting an end to this menace of corruption.
The root cause of corruption can only be tackled if man is made to realize that he is accountable to God for all his deeds in this world. Unless this sense of accountability before Divine Justice is inculcated in man, stringent legislation and harsh punishment will only do half the job. This aspect of the solution to corruption was highlighted by Jamaat e Islami President Maulana Syed Jalaluddin Omari while addressing members of the Lokpal drafting committee of Anna Hazare’s anti-corruption movement.
