CORRUPTION

INTRODUCTION
As with many developing nations, corruption is widespread in
India. India is ranked 72 out of a 179 countries in Transparency
International's Corruption Perceptions Index, although its score
has improved consistently from 2.7 in 2002 to 3.5 in 2008.
Corruption has taken the role of a persistent aspect of Indian
politics and administration.
The extent to which corruption may flourish in a particular
country depends largely on the attitude of the people , which in
the case of india is one of apathy .
India has lost more than $460bn since independence because
of companies and the rich illegally funneling their wealth
overseas.
India’s situation is best explained by an ancient proverb
“A Fish Rots From The Head Down” .When the head is putrid,
the body politic can’t be healthy. When public is angry over
revelations of a new mega scandal, the strategy often
employed is to start targeting second – tier corruption.
Types of corruption
1. Corruption In Politics
Criminalization of Indian politics is a main problem.In
July 2008 Washington Times reported that nearly a
fourth of the 540 Indian Parliament members faced
criminal charges, "including human trafficking,
immigration rackets, embezzlement, rape and even
murder".
At state level, things are often worse.

2. Corruption In administration
A 2009 survey of the leading economies of Asia,
revealed Indian administration to be not just least efficient
out of Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand, South Korea,
Japan, Malaysia, Taiwan, Vietnam, China, Philippines and
Indonesia..
further it was also found that working with the
India's civil servants was a "slow and painful"
process.
Officials often steal state property. In Bihar, more than
80% of the subsidized food aid to poor is stolen.
In Government Hospitals, corruption is associated
with non availability of medicines (or duplicate
medicines), getting admission and consultations with
doctors.

3.Corruption In Judiciary
Corruption is rampant in the judicial system of India.
According to Transparency International, judicial
corruption in India is attributable to factors such as
"delays in the disposal of cases, shortage of judges
and complex procedures, all of which are exacerbated
by a preponderance of new laws".
INDIA : A LAND OF SCAMS
2G SPECTRUM SCAM
There have been scams that have been going on for long time.
It’s not uncommon for these types of scams or crime around this
time of the year. Some of the common scams which took place
in recent times are: 2G Spectrum Scam is the most talked about
subject of the nation today. Reason behind this scam is the
irregularities in the allocation of 2G Spectrum to 9 private
Telecom operators by the Telecom Ministry in 2008. The
then Telecom Minister A.Raja has been accused of allotting
licenses to these telecom operators at very low cost as compared
to the market value at the time of 2008 and ignoring
the Rules and Procedures for Allocation of the 2G Spectrum
Licenses to these private operators, which has caused huge loss
to the Govt.
The issue dates to 2008, when nine telecom companies were
issued scarce airwaves and licences for second generation (2G)
mobile phone services at Rs 1,658 crore (less that $350 million)
for a pan-India operation. As many as 122 circle-wise licences
were issued.
The Opposition said that by giving the airwaves cheap, that
too in the controversial manner of first-cum-first-served basis,
the exchequer had lost billions of dollars. The cut-off date for
applications was also arbitrarily advanced.
Later, based on the auction of airwaves for third generation
(3G) services, which got nearly $15 billion to the exchequer, and
that for broadband access, which fetched over $8.5 billion, the
notional loss was estimated at $38 billion to the exchequer.
But Prime Minister Manmohan Singh himself defended
Raja's decision and said that all that his communications
minister had done was to implement a policy already in place
and none of the norms was flouted. The opposition further
stepped up its attack with two examples on 2Gauction:
A new player, Swan Telecom, bought licences for 13 circles,
with the necessary spectrum for $340 million but managed to
sell a 45-per cent stake in the company toUAE's Etisalat for
$900 million. This swelled its valuation to $2 billion without a
single subscriber.
Another new player, Unitech, paid $365 million as licence fee
but sold a 60-per cent stake to Norway'sTalenor for $1.36
billion, taking its valuation to nearly $2 billion, again without a
single subscriber.
Similarly, another licensor, Datacom, later became Videocon
Mobile and Stel, which now has large stake by Baharian
Telecom. The other companies are Tata Tele, Idea Cellular,
LoopTelecom, ShyamTelelink and Spice.
The final blow came after the Comptroller and Auditor
General of India said the entire process of spectrum allocation
was undertaken in an arbitrary manner and that the advice of the
industry watchdog was ignored and misused.
The 2G spectrum scam involved officials in the government
of India illegally undercharging mobile telephony companies for
frequency allocation licenses, which they used to create 2G
subscriptions for cell phones. The shortfall between the money
collected and the money which the law mandated to be collected
became 1,76,379 crore rupees or USD 39 billion. The issuing of
licenses occurred in 2008, but the scam came to public notice
when the Indian Income Tax Department was investigating
political lobbyist Nira Radia.
The government's investigation and the government's reactions
to the findings in the investigation was the subject of debate, as
was the nature of the Indian media's reactions. The discussion
around the reactions to the 2G spectrum scam became known in
the media as the Nira Radia tapes controversy. Theselling of the
licenses brought attention to three groups of entities - politicians
who had the authority to sell licenses, corporations who were
buying the licenses, and media professionals who mediated
between the politicians and the corporations.
A. Raja arranged the sale of the 2G spectrum licenses below
their market value. Swan Telecom, a new company with few
assets, bought a license for Rs. 1537 crore. Shortly thereafter,
the board sold 45% of the company to Etisalat for Rs. 4200
crore. Similarly, a company formerly invested in real estate and
not telecom, the Unitech Group, purchased a license for Rs.
1661 crore and the company board soon after sold a 60% stake
in their wireless division for Rs. 6200 crore to Telenor. The
nature of the selling of the licenses was that licenses were to be
sold at market value, and the fact that the licenses were quickly
resold at a huge profit indicates that the selling agents issued the
licenses below market value.
Nine companies purchased licenses and collectively they
paid the Ministry of Communications and Information
Technology's telecommunications division Rs. 10,772 crore.
The amount of money expected from such licensing by the
Comptroller andAuditor General of India was 1,76,700 crore.

ADARSHSCAM
Despite repeated statements by outgoing Chief Minister
Ashok Chavan that the land which houses the controversial 31-
storey Adarsh Cooperative Housing Society belongs to the
Maharashtra government, RTI activists have revealed that the
Army had been in "de facto" possession of the 6,490-sq mt
prime land for over 60 years before the Adarsh Society highrise
came up there in 2003.
The society, originally meant to be a six-storey structure to
house Kargil war heroes and war widows, was converted into a
100-metre-tall building. Retired brigadier M W Wanchu, the
president of the society, argued that it was not a defence land.
The highrise was built subject to the condition that it would
house war veterans, but now has 103 members, which include
relatives of Chavan. However, the outgoing chief minister
clarified that for him his family is restricted to his wife and two
daughters. Chavan’s late mother-in-law Bhagwati Manoharlal
Sharma, relatives Seema Sharma and Madanlal Sharma also
figured in the list. Bhagwati Manoharlal Sharma, 77, died at
Varshaâ, the chief ministerâ official residence, in July. The two
relatives have submitted letters of withdrawal of their
membership.
Former Army chiefs Generals Deepak Kapoor and N C Vij and
former Navy chief Admiral Madhavendra Singh and Vice- Chief
Gen Shantanu Choudhary also got flats in the society. They have
offered to surrender their flats on the grounds that they did not
know that the land was meant for the widows of Kargil war
heroes. Former chief secretary D K Sankaran’s son, Sanjoy, is
also among the allottees. The list also includes the names of
former Union environment minister Suresh Prabhu, Nationalist
Congress Party MLC Jitendra Avhad, Congress leader
Kanhaiyalal Gidwani and his two sons, a close aide of a senior
Maharashtra minister, the
children of some bureaucrats, serving bureaucrats, Seema Vyas
and IdzesKundan, and an individual by the name of S B Chavan.
Ashok Chavan’s late father and former home and defence
minister was also SBChavan.
According to the present market rate in the Colaba area, a
two-to three-bedroom-hall-kitchen (BHK) flat in Adarsh
society could cost between Rs 6 crore and Rs 8.5 crore.
However, members of the society paid Rs 60-85 lakh for each
flat.
The Western Naval Command had objected to the
construction of the society, as it also violated the stringent
MumbaiCoastal Regulation Zone norms.

The CBI is already investigating how the prime land in

Mumbai, which was marked for Kargil war widows and war
veterans, was given to VIPs instead. The CBI enquiry was
sought by the present Army chief to clear the names of defence
service officers allegedly implicated in it. Defence Minister A K
Antony had to agree to the CBI enquiry. Most of the files
pertaining to the scam are now in CBI’s possession. The Union
environment ministry has also raised a red flag, saying it did not
grant clearance to the society.
The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority
has scrapped the occupation certificate in the wake of the
controversy. Subsequently, BrihanMumbai Electric Supply &
Undertaking has disconnected power supply to the society.
Members plan to approach the court of law against these actions.
In 2010, the Indian media, especially CNN-IBN, brought to
public the violations of rules at various phases of construction in
the Adarsh Society. Questions were raised on the manner in
which apartments in the building were allocated to bureaucrats,
politicians and army personnel who had nothing to do with
KargilWar and the way in which clearances were obtained for
the construction of the building of the Adarsh Society.
The Adarsh society high-rise was constructed in the posh
Colaba locality of Mumbai, which is considered a sensitive
coastal area by the Indian Defence forces and houses various
Indian Defence establishments. The society is also alleged to
have violated the Indian environment ministry rules.
Many activists like Medha Patkar had been trying to uncover
this scam since a long time. The exposure of the infamous nexus
between politicians, bureaucrats and builders in this scam is
said to be only the tip of the iceberg.
Several inquiries have been ordered by the army and the
Government to probe into the irregularities. Someof the current
occupants of the flats in the Adarsh co-operative society
building have offered to vacate their flats at the earliest, denying
allegations that they were allotted flats because they influenced
or helped, in some manner, the construction of the society by
violating the rules. The media also exposed that the lower house
of the Indian Parliament was misled by one of the bureaucrats,
Pradeep Vyas, involved.
The environment minister Jairam Ramesh formally set the
ball rolling for the demolition of the entire 31-story scamtainted
Adarsh building in Coloba's eco-sensitive zone on
November 12th 2010. The environment minister is said to have
sent a show cause notice to the Adarsh housing society. The
environment minister is said to have stated that "all options
under the law are open except regularization of the structure"
CHEMINGRAGRESSALICIOUS
CWG CORRUPTION
A number of concerns and controversies surfaced before the
2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, India, which
received widespread media coverage both in India (the host
nation) and abroad.
The Commonwealth Games was severely criticized by
several prominent Indian politicians and social activists because
billions of dollars have been spent on the sporting event despite
the fact that India has one of the world's largest concentration of
poor people. Additionally, several other problems related to the
2010 Commonwealth Games have been highlighted by Indian
investigation agencies and media outlets; these include –
serious corruption by officials of the Games' Organising
Committee, delays in the construction of main Games' venues,
infrastructural compromise, possibility of a terrorist attack and
exceptionally poor ticket sales before the event.

CVC PJ THOMAS DISTANCES HIMSELF FROM 2G

SCAM
Amid growing speculations about his exit as Chief Vigilance
Commissioner (CVC), PJ Thomas distanced himself from the
2G spectrum allocation scam. Thomas said that 2G scam
happened between 2007 and 2008 when he was not the telecom
secretary. He was not present at the time the spectrum was
allotted. Thomas also said that as far as Supreme Court's
comments are concerned, the matter is subjudice and he would
not want to comment pending the court proceedings.
Fewdays back, the Union Government assured the Supreme
Court that Thomas would not supervise the Central Bureau of
Investigation's (CBI's) inquiry into country's biggest scam. The
government assurance came a day after the apex court had said
that it might not be appropriate for Thomas to supervise the CBI
probe into the2Gscandal. “To maintain with the highest tradition
of the country, Thomas has offered to rescue himself from the
matter,”
Solicitor General Gopal Subramanium told a bench comprising
justicesGS Singhvi andAKGanguly. “The CVC was telecom
secretary and justified the action (specturm allotment) that is
now subject to scrutiny by this court and the CBI. It would be
difficult for him to objectively supervise it.
The government's latest statement meant that 60-year-old
PJ Thomas would not quit now from the CVC as many
speculated for past weeks in the wake of the court's adverse
comments and protests from the Opposition parties.Earlier SC
Chief Justice SH Kapadia had also questioned the appointment
of tainted bureaucrat as the CVC. The former Telecom
Secretary was appointed to the CVC's post by a three-member
panel headed byPrime MinisterManhomanSingh.

LICHOUSINGLOANSCAM
There is trouble in store for those involved in the LIC
Housing Loan scam, as the Economic OffencesWing of the CBI
has prepared to file fresh FIRs against all the parties involved.
Investigations by the agency have found that there were massive
irregularities in disbursal of loans, where rules were bent to
favour clients of Money Matters.
A month after registering a case against LIC Housing CEO
Ramachandran Nair, Money Matters CMD Rajesh Sharma and
several other PSU bank officials for accepting bribes to disburse
corporate loans fraudulently, the agency has completed scrutiny
of all the loan deals that were made through Money Matters. It
has found financial irregularities in almost all deals, where rules
and guidelines were purposely not adhered to, in order to favour
certain companies. The alleged beneficiaries include companies
like Lavasa corporation, DB Realty, Mantri Realty, Jaypee
Group, Suzlon, Adani Group, Religare, Pantaloons and various
others. Several companies did not have the required security to
be eligible for a big loan, still they were given loans to the tune
of Rs 200-300 crores. LIC Housing Finance itself lowered
interest rates for certain Money Matters clients for no apparent
reason. Where the loans should have been disbursed at 15 per
cent, in several instances, they were given at 12.5 per cent.
Rules have been bent at every step. The agency would
investigate the forgery that may have been committed by the
beneficiaries to get the loan.
What has also worked in favour of CBI is that instead of cash,
bribes in the case were given to bank officials in the form of
gold coins and ornaments which have been seized and have
become crucial evidence.

Hassan Ali Khan Hawalascam

(evading taxes up to 100,000
crores)
Hassan Ali Khan a stud farmer from Pune who started as
small time conman, bank fraud to Hawala transactions.
He has known Swiss account of $8billion dollars and
more. Most of the money believed to belong to
politicians and industrialists and Khanwas conduit. That
is not all. There is enormous amount of money
ploughed back into India stock market as participatory
notes. Even though Swiss was willing to give more
information if requested , Govt submitted forged
documents as request.

BoforsScam
(400 million dollars, in 1980s)
Biggest scandal of the time ,in 1980’s where major
cut was believed to be taken by Rajiv Gandhi and
his party , with Quattrochi, close Italian family
friend of Sonia Gandhi brokering the deal
.Quattrochi negotiated many Indian Govt deals on
behalf of his parent company Snam Progetti.
In Dec 2005, Indian Government (Additional
Solicitor general) helped de-freeze
Quattrochiaccount with no regards to Indian courts
as it did not inform even the Supreme Court.
In Feb 2007 when Argentina detained Quattrochi,
Indian Government submitted forged papers that
resulted in rejection by Argentina. Recently India’s
CBI withdrew his name from list of wanted
persons.
India, Republic of Scams

India among most corrupt nations

Corruption has become as way of life across the world,
costing global economies billions of dollars every year.
Transparency International's (TI) Global Corruption
Report 2009 shows how bribery, price-fixing cartels and undue
influence on public policy undermine fair competition, stifle
economic growth and ultimately undercut a business's own
existence.
About half of international business executives polled by TI
estimated that corruption escalated project costs by at least 10
per cent.
The report reveals that consumers around the world were
overcharged approximately $300 billion through almost 300
private international cartels discovered from1990 to 2005.
In developing countries alone, companies colluding with
corrupt politicians and government officials have supplied
bribes estimated at up to $40 billion annually, according to TI.
Companies with anti-corruption programmes and ethical
guidelines are found to suffer up to 50 per cent fewer incidents
of corruption and are less likely to lose business opportunities
than companies without such programmes.
India is ranked 19th in the Bribe Payers' Index with a score of
6.8, out of 10. The higher the score for a country, the lower the
likelihood of companies from that country engaging in bribery
when doing business abroad.
In terms of degree of corruption, the score 10 is 'highly
clean', while score 0 is 'highly corrupt'.
Respondents ranked companies from India, Russia Mexico
and China as those most likely to engage in foreign bribery.
About 30 per cent of respondents indicated that companies
from India are likely to bribe low-level public officials to 'speed
things up'. India ranks 85th out of 180 countries in the
Corruption Perception Index, with a low score of 3.4.

What is country losing?

Just one 2G Scam, 40 billion dollars loot mean following loss
for the country
1. It is 3% of country’s GDP in just one scam!!!
2. It is 20% of the money needed to create a National Grid
(connecting all rivers in India). Such a grid would ensure
perennial water-supply to every one of 6 lakh villages and to
create 9 crore acres of land assured irrigation.
3. This one scam alone is believed to exceed the colonial loot
of 200 years!!

Terrorism
Transfer of loot to tax havens and to countries harboring
terror groups. For e.g, transfer of Swan telecom 2G loot to
Elisalat, a Dubai based group with ISI involvement. Also, the
brokers who do the hawalatransfers for the looters also do for
the terrorists (Jain Hawalascam).

Severe Internal and External

Security Challenges
India’s police does not have proper equipment to fight terrorists and
insurgents. The shoddy bullet vests could not protect our police
during Mumbai terrorist attack.The wheeling dealing (cut to
politicians) with every military procurement left India with sub
standard equipment. Not only that, more seriously it destroyed
indigenous development of weapons. It is now believed India will not
win a determined war with its neighbors.

Wide contrast between rich and poor

The rich is becoming more rich and the poor are
becoming more poor

Poor infrastructure even to save food grains

causing food prices to soar

The cut in every project left India with little

infrastructure of drinking water, electricity, roads,
canals and sewage systems making life miserabale.
Worse, it is costing 50,000 croresof agriculture loss each
year with thousands of tons of food grains rotting when
millions do not have 2 meals a day.

Impoverishment of millions
The looted money is used to hoard food supplies to increase
prices and make more. This is making life hell for poor in India
with 17% inflation. A mother has to chose between sending
her child to school or to work.

What are the solutions?

1. Massive awakening to force laws that have
teeth and are not subjected to political
interference.
India against Corruption with well known activists has
come up with such bills and organizing rally to support
them
E.g., India’s RTI (Freedom of Information) act
has given some power to citizens over
bureaucracy.
2. Reduce corruption for Govtservices by use of Technology
such as E-Governance and reduction of Government control.
Transparency in Government contracting etc.
3. Encourage people to vote. Educate the poor that the
freebies given during elections are stolen money. Encourage
citizens to say ‘No’ to bribes.
Several activists/NGO’s are springing up in India to tackle the
issue. Janaagraharecording of bribes (I paid a bribe) prompted
Karnataka Govtto take action. 5thPillar has addressed 600
colleges/universities, formed human chains protesting
corruption and created a brand of zero rupee notes. India
Against Corruption, TI India and several such organizations
that are actively fighting.
4.Bring the looted funds back.
Work with US Department of Treasury, USA Financial Action
Task Force to track down the money transfers into tax havens
and the rerouting back into stock markets through
participatory notes and other hawalaroutes.
Get familiar with this highly acclaimed book that started the
well known organization ‘Global Financial Integrity’ fighting
the dirty money in the world. It shows the kind of methods
used by Gandhi’s, Karunanidhi’s, Ambani’sand others to save
the stolen wealth of India in different foreign havens and
impoverish millions.
5.Develop Indian identity.
Indians should transcend religion, region, caste, ideology
(leftists etc) and identify as Indians first. Foreigners and dregs
of the society rule us because it is very easy to divide us.

GET INVOLVED
India Against Corruption, Janaagraha, Save India From
Corruption, 5thPillar, and many such organizations, spiritual
leaders, activists, experts are fighting valiant battle.

Do not lose heart

It happened in Peru in 2009 when people & supreme court
overthrew President Fujimori
It happened in Tunisia in 2010 when mass awakening
overthrew President Ben Ali It is happening NOW in Egypt
against President Mubarak .
It happened in Hong Kong, 1974 when mass awakening
established ICAC(Independent Commission Against
Corruption)

It will happen in India!