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![[Bribe Busters]](22lead.gif)
Anita Bora
According to the World Bank, corruption is the single greatest obstacle to economic and social development. In India too, corruption is prevalent across all sectors of the government, public and private enterprise.
Rahul Gul, editor of an online anti-corruption effort called Bhrasht, says this is a deep-rooted problem in India due to its sheer scale, and because individuals are either indifferent or too cynical to do something about it.
This is where the Internet can step in and educate the common man, taking over the role from the print media which, according to Gul, has long since had their own priorities. "I think the Net can be very effective in spreading awareness about the malady; inspiring the common man to insist on a corruption-free way of life; and instilling fear among the 'corrupt' by exposing them," he says.
Bhrasht.com is a forum where you can report corruption cases, read articles on the topic and discuss related issues. There's also a 'Rogues Gallery' that lists officials from different services including the IAS, IFS, IPS and other public sector enterprises, who are under enquiry of the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC).
While many people remain indifferent, citizens like Gul and Tirumala Srinivasan continue in their efforts. Through his site Corruption Eradication, Srinivasan tries to focus public attention on this problem. The site focuses on anti-corruption measures, acts, laws and institutes, and provides discussion papers, recent news and topical features. He's also created a Yahoo! Club where anybody can post articles and participate in discussions about corruption. "With the help of Loksatta, Hyderabad and likeminded people, I'm collecting online articles for this club," says Srinivasan.
A common enquiry from visitors, he finds, is how and where to complain about bribes. Bhrasht.com allows you to complain online. The idea, explains Gul, is to provide a forum for anyone to 'expose' a 'corrupt' official without having to contend with red tape. Once filed, the report automatically gets queued to be emailed to the CVC. And a copy is published for personal perusal at the site's homepage, where it can be viewed until 12 months later.
You can also directly complain at the CVC site. However, when Rediff Guide to the Net sent an email to the address provided, it went unanswered for a few weeks. How then does one know whether somebody is looking into one's complaint?
"There's no way to ensure or confirm that the CVC takes cognisance of any complaints forwarded to them," says Gul, "It's not surprising your mail didn't evoke a response. The whole online system there may well have gone comatose. Which is so unfortunate, considering the Net is ideal for this sort of thing. Perhaps your story will wake them up!"
The fight might be hard, but it also has its share of success. Gul cites the case of Avinash Murkute whose nightmare began in April 2002, when his father refused to pay a bribe of Rs 500 to salaried employees of BSNL, Nagpur, in order to get his telephone fixed. His phone was dead for eight months (cumulative period) in two years and every time this happened, he was required to run from pillar to post.
When his complaints were not taken seriously by the area manager, Murkute took the case to higher authorities like the chief managing director of BSNL in New Delhi, deputy engineer (vigilance), consumer disputes redressal forum and also the CVC. After a determined battle lasting seven months, the court found all documents of BSNL (which had hired a battery of lawyers) tampered with and fictitious and fined them Rs 6,500.
The need for publicity
Since most of these sites are maintained by individuals, they aren't well publicised. To get coverage in the mainstream media, Srinivasan has submitted his site to all search engines and informed leading newspapers. "Yet, till date nobody has taken any initiative to publish information about it in the print media," he complains.
And publicity does count for much: Bhrasht, which has received considerably more exposure, also receives tremendous feedback. "A lot of people keep writing to me and offering to volunteer in this battle against 'corruption'," says Gul.
In a recent advertisement for a volunteer associate editor for his site, he received an overwhelming response from people who willing to help for free. These included an activist from Uttara Kannad, a concerned NRI from the US, an undergraduate student and even a journalist working with NGOs in Argentina.
Local and global endeavours
Another site with a mission is Parivartan.com, a community of citizens working together to tackle corruption in the Income Tax department, Delhi Vidyut Board, Sanitation department and primary schools. Their newly designed site also has news, details on events and instructions on how you can join the fight.
On the national level, indiatogether.org deals with broader issues of the country, corruption being just one of them. International efforts include Global Corruption Report, Daily Corruption News, Internet Centre for Corruption Research and transparency.org.
More Links:
The Great Defence Scandal
No Bribes
Governance and Anti-corruption
Corruption in Karnataka
My encounter with corporate corruption
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