INVC,,
Delhi,,
The Vice President of India Shri M. Hamid Ansari has said a fourfold approach to treat the deadly social ailment of Corruption and promote probity would lie in the combination of (a) ethical training in norms incorporated in legally enforceable Code of Ethics, (b) comprehensive protection of human rights, (c) a legal framework and regulatory practices that enforce clash of interest rules, and (d) laws and procedures that forbid nepotism in all its manifestations. Delivering Annual Bhimsen Sachar Memorial Lecture on ‘Virtue in Public Life’ here today, he said that these steps would assist the attainment of “excellence” in terms of the Duties prescribed in the Constitution. The endeavour is to be individual and collective. Here, as elsewhere, a Gandhian dictum is of relevance : “You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” He said that the matter of corruption is very much in the public domain. It has been said with much justice that “evidence of corruption has moved from anecdotal to documentary”, that it is Indian democracy’s “inconvenient fact”, that it violates human rights, constitutional rights and Rule of Law, and that “it undermines the very social fabric and the political and bureaucratic structure of the Indian society”. Shri Ansari said that our ranking in the global Corruption Perception Index is, to say the least, distressing. The disease is not of recent origin but, in an earlier period, carried a social stigma less evident today. In 1949 the poet Josh Malihabadi had written a long poem entitled Rishwat. One couplet summed up the public opprobrium attributed to the ailment:
Bhool kar bhi jo koi leta hai rishwat, chor hai
Aaj qaomi paagaloon main raat din yeh shour hai
He expressed his deep concern that the perception of wide-spread corruption has widened and deepened in the public mind. Furthermore, there is a nagging apprehension that the administrative and judicial mechanism in place is inadequate as a deterrent. In January 2007 the ‘Ethics in Governance’ report of the Second Administrative Reform Commission concluded that “anti corruption interventions so far made are seen to be ineffectual and there is widespread public cynicism about them.” This cynicism, it added, “is spreading so fast that it bodes ill for our democratic system itself.” He suggested that more effective corrective action is needed to restore public confidence. This has to be qualitatively different and must address three aspects of the matter simultaneously. These relate to (a) propensity, (b) opportunity, and (c) scope.
He said that much of the debate on dealing with the perils of corruption has dealt with the legal framework and law enforcement and the effort to make it produce better results. This is essential but not sufficient. An aspect of the fight against corruption, insufficiently addressed, is its impact on human rights and the extent to which it derogates the Rule of Law that ensures administration of justice by normal law courts, avoidance of arbitrary decision-making, and abuse of discretionary power. Referring to Nepotism, the Vice President opined that given our social scene and traditions, nepotism in some form or the other is, tacitly or explicitly, considered a virtue. It is said to be “a custom with infinitely more practitioners than defenders”. How is it to be defined in the Indian context of Kunba parvari ? When and where does it violate canons of probity and becomes a corrupt practise? Has any government or public body sought to develop a framework to check it? He said that the desire and need for a virtuous society is not just a metaphysical goal which lies in the ethereal realm of religion or philosophy but has tangible benefits for common good of humanity. Virtue in public life provides a necessary, if not sufficient, framework for sustained and harmonious political, economic and social progress in society. He said that Virtue in public life goes beyond the normal clamour for probity in Government and public administration and covers the entire spectrum of a citizen’s public activity. Similarly, virtue is not restricted to absence of corruption in financial or monetary terms, but includes values such as service, sacrifice, faith, trust, courage, justice and ethical conduct. As the philosopher Aristotle put it, virtue is a disposition for excellence in the human soul. This virtue can be acquired. He opined that every society has in place a set of laws and regulations to deal with violations of rules requiring proper conduct by those who indulge in public affairs. The adequacy of these remains a matter of unending debate. The Vice President remarked that in our world of today, societies and states no longer have the luxury of isolation. Instead, we have a community of states and a globalisation of values. National sovereignty is increasingly circumscribed by national commitments to global conventions. These, together, give teeth to the principles and behaviour pledges inscribed in the Charter of the United Nations.
