Wishing away corruption

Wanted to deal with many avatars of corruption, not just the transfer of money called bribe as a quid pro quo for some favor - films and TV serials corrupting the minds of youngsters, unhealthy industrial effluents corrupting the environment, viruses corrupting files and folders on our harddisk and so on. In this post I will confine to the usual connotation. I will describe an effort I started but did not finish.

The immediate mind recall agency when the word corruption is mentioned is the Excise department with the RTO coming a close second. The employees of the department practice corruption as a well documented process because (a) it gives them extra money to indulge in luxuries which they would have had to forego otherwise and (b) if they do not extract money from clients and pay the bosses their share, they are likely to be punished by transfers and suspensions. Both these causes can be handled better if the families of the employees cooperate.

First the families should be familiar with the nature of work their husbands / fathers do and the constraints under which they work. They should be aware or they should be made aware that the luxuries bestowed on them come out of bribes. The family members should know exactly the take-home salary of their bread-winner. They should refuse to accept goods and services beyond the monthly budgeted items.

Secondly, the families should stand by the menfolk when they face transfer / suspension for refusing to be corrupt. The families should form a union of themselves and collectively support their men in staying away from bribes. How many persons the bosses can afford to transfer / suspend? The effect of mass movement should get channelized in this direction.

The influence of the family in eradicating corruption is very strong. Civil society groups should mobilize the families and enlist their support. This will provide better returns for their effort than fighting the provisions of the Lokpal Bill.

Within the department, some clean executives should encourage the families getting together - organize cultural programs by family members, publish a monthly newsletter with contributions from family members and the management.