I wrote that the government has to implement its laws against corruption strictly and has to act against their own employees who all take bribes until the lowest clerk in a small village. In my opinion however, the general public also has to take its responsibility in this fight against corruption and not even offer bribes anymore.
Let me give you an example of how corruption works in every day’s life. About a month ago we were in Delhi to watch a cricket world cup match. I reported about this experience in the diary, too. After the match we were driving through Delhi on our way home. As our driver is not from Delhi, he does not know the city very well and accidentally took a wrong turn to the right at a crossing where he was not actually allowed to turn right but only to go straight. He had not seen the sign. The moment he turned the car, there was a policeman in front of us who stopped the car and informed us that we had not been allowed to turn this way.
Our driver got out to show his license and Purnendu got out to explain to the police officer that we were not from Delhi and that we were not aware of the rules at this particular crossing. All our papers were fine and so the policeman only could remark upon this one wrong action. ‘You turned wrong and you will have to pay the fine of 2000 Rupees’. When Purnendu agreed, he told him that he could instead also just pay 500 Rupees, that would be okay, too.
This is a very normal way of police officers to get some extra pocket money. They simply don’t officially note this case down, so the government will never know about it and never get to see their 2000 Rupees. The 500 Rupees go into the pocket of the police officer. A small extra income that can get quite big if you have enough such cases in one evening, standing exactly at the turn of a road where people must frequently turn by mistake. And which car driver or owner would not like to pay a fourth of what he is asked for?
Well, Purnendu didn’t. He refused straight away and told the policeman to prepare a receipt of the 2000 Rupees he would give him. If a policeman gives a receipt, it means that he officially took a fine which will then go to the government.
At this point another officer came and after a small discussion he said ‘Okay, we are sorry, you made a mistake by turning here and that can happen to anyone. You can go on without paying!’ And so we did.
What I want to say with this small story is that it is also the responsibility of each single person to make sure he or she does not support corruption. Don’t think of your own convenience and benefit. There is a synonym for the word ‘bribe’ in Hindi so that you can say ‘bribe’ in a softer way that doesn’t sound that much like a crime. It is called ‘Suvidha Shulk’, the ‘Payment for Comfort’. This is how corruption started: people giving and others taking some extra money in order to get their things done with comfort for them.
Don’t offer anybody money in order to get something done quickly or more smoothly or cheaper for you. If you pay less to the police officer who stops you for driving too fast, it justifies the clerk asking for a bribe when you apply for a passport or want to have a copy of your birth certificate! You support the system of corruption if you give bribes! If you did a mistake in traffic, you pay for it. Of course, if the officer accepts, as in our case, an apology for the misdeed, you are lucky but never pay a bribe. Request the official receipt and pay for it. In such cases we can refuse to go along with a corrupt system and can slowly make a change. We, the people, have this power together. And maybe, someday, each government office will simply have a signboard with the prices for services and you can trust that nobody will take even one Rupee more than is written on that board.
Related posts
Disappointed from Anna Hazare but still supporting the Fight against Corruption – 5 Dec 11
Is Michelle Obama corrupt if she goes on Holiday? – 25 Aug 11
Corruption in religious and spiritual Business – 24 Aug 11
An Appeal to those who oppose Anna Hazare and his Campaign against Corruption – 22 Aug 11
Anna Hazare – Keep up your Fight against Corruption without political or religious Influence – 17 Aug 11
Anna Hazare arrested – Game of Politics and Corruption – 16 Aug 11
Is the average Indian criminal? – Legalizing Bribe-Giving in Fight against Corruption – 14 Apr 11
Anna Hazare fights Corruption like Gandhi fought the British – 8 Apr 11
Corruption might be a very severe problem in India but it also exists in Germany.Where does it start? Invitations, little presents in business – I’m very strict with all this in my own business.
Corruption erodes the principles of an just and civil society in the end.
But if the “fish always stinks from the head”, only independent and upright leaders, in politics as in business, can stop this cycle of erosion.
Payment for Comfort, that’s it. I mean this is really the problem! Not thinking for the system and everybody around you but only for your own benefit is never right! And that is what everyone is doing, those who take money but also those who give.You have to go with the official way if you want your government to work properly. Otherwise you cannot complain about their work anymore if you sabotage it all the time!
Only if the individuals work together, a community can function as it should. I agree Swami Ji!
In Germany, too, the police often stands at exactly those places with their speed cameras where people tend to drive too fast. We use to say that the police department needs money if you see them stand there… but not the police officers themselves 🙂
We do need this spirit of community to be able to work together Max, that’s right.And then the ego of the individual does not always fit in there!
Sometimes the most powerful revolution is started by individual small acts. Swami, that is a great idea for people to avoid little bribes wherever they happen. You have to start small in order to tackle the massive problem.
In the U.S., we have a very corrupt system of food production in which animals are fed hormones and tortured before being killed for food. Other foods are genetically modified and processed. They are very secretive about it and it is hard to fight against these huge corporations with legal actions. But many people have started campaigns in which they refuse to buy from companies that use such practices. While we may not be able to defeat these corporations on a large scale, we can certainly deprive them of our money, showing our lack of support for their practices. And if they make no profit, they can’t go on with their business.