Corruption, as we all know, a real issue. This is perhaps an understatement – corruption is the biggest reason for the underdevelopment of the bottom half of the pyramid in India. Or a better way to put this is that if corruption weren’t there in this huge proportion, there would not have been a bottom half of the pyramid in India!
You must have heard of this forum called India Against Corruption which has been started by a few citizens who have taken the responsibility to do something about it – for example, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Kiran Bedi, Arvind Kejriwal, Anna Hazare, etc. And it has now 3.5 crore supporters, people like you and me.
The key demand of India Against Corruption is only one – that a taskforce be set up that will come with the draft of the Lokpal Bill and have 50% representatives of the Government and 50% representatives of the Public. That’s all. And if you see their website www.indiaagainstcorruption.org, they have even made the effort to draft an outline of this proposed bill. Did you know that this has been pending in the Parliament for 40 years?
The government is saying that an inter-ministerial group has been set up to draft this. Looking at the general state of affairs in and around the government, having someone from the government to draft a bill to eradicate corruption is like asking the ‘bhais’ of the underworld to come up with a legislation to eradicate crime:)
Each one of us to make a personal choice about this objective of eradicating corruption. Here are some alternatives:
- Do nothing, and hope for the best
- Be an armchair activist and talk about this problem to everyone you know
- Question the people who are doing something to eradicate corruption: whether they are the right people, whether they are themselves corrupt, whether they have a good plan, etc.
- Join the cause, and do something, provide some support and momentum – be present in the events, talk to your friends and neighbors and inspire them to join this movement.
Like a large number of people who were present this morning when Anna Hazare started the fast unto death in support of this cause, I had also chosen ‘4’ from the list above…..took the day off today for supporting the cause. The scene there was amazing – people from all walks of life, and of all age groups, many of whom had come from distant towns, were there. The enthusiasm and fervor was at a peak. Way to go!
Any cause requires support – if our earlier generation had made choices 1 to 3 for the cause of freedom movement, many of us may have been born in a British Colony ;)
Check out the website www.indiaagainstcorruption.org for details – and if you have not already joined the movement, it is time. Our children and their children will thank us for giving them a better country.
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