The drive against corruption and bribes has taken a new turn in India. The zero rupee experiment started in Chennai is now reaching other parts of the country.
The Zero Rupee campaign against corruption and bribes is started by an Indian NGO 5th pillar , which identifies the common man (you and me) as the fifth pillar of democracy apart from the standard four pillars of Administrative, Executive, Judiciary and Press.
The common term used by corrupt bureaucrats and politicians to ask for bribe is to make Gandhi smile on them. This is because a smiling picture of Gandhiji is present on all Indian currency notes.
To counter corruption, the 5th pillar has come out with a Zero Rupees note which is a direct copy of a 50 Rupee note of India, except for the fact that as the name suggests Zero Rupees note has no value as it is not a true currency note.
5th pillar is distributing thousands of these notes to the common man so that they can give this note to those who ask bribe, who at first glance would think it to be a valid currency, only to be reminded of the wrong they are doing!
There is a message on the note which reads Eliminate corruption at all levels, and this is enough to remind a person of his crime and to instigate a feeling of guilt in the bribe receiver. The campaign is called Freedom from corruption .
While the normal Indian currency note contains a pledge by the Reserve Bank of India reading I promise to pay the bearer a sum of x rupees , the zero rupee note will carry the pledge I promise to neither accept nor give bribe !
The campaign started on August 4th this year, and has already paid dividends to many. For instance, an autorickshaw driver was pulled over by a traffic policeman demanding bribe to let him go, and when the driver gave this note as bribe, he was first shocked on seeing it properly, but then smiled and let the driver go!
The campaign might not be a 100% success. But there is no harm in trying it out. It will definitely make a lot of difference when a person is not refusing to pay bribe and yet does not pay the bribe. but instead passes on a message not to against corruption!!
Think of the embarrassing situation the officers will be in when their colleagues or family members see these zero rupee currency notes with them, and make fun of them Zero kya!
I think this campaign will work like an unrecorded sting operation. Stung, but not exposed on camera :)
By the way Bihar is the most corrupt state in India, while Kerala is the least corrupt. Good going mallus! Hope other states will catch up soon. The campaign is currently on in another south Indian state, Tamilnadu. The notes are also in circulation in Andhra pradesh and also in Mumbai. Looks like the booming south India will be the one to get rid of all these corruption menace sooner than the North.
North Indian states like UP, Bihar, Jharkhand, etc have still a lot to catch up. The only North Indian state I know which has undergone a great amount of developmental work in the past 8-10 years is Gujarat under the leadership of Narendra Modi. For the third consecutive term his government is all set to win the upcoming elections in December, thanks to his great works that have benefited the common man. The recent opininion polls in the state have indicated a clear majority for Narendra Modi, a rare scenario in India where otherwise usually the ruling party will be voted out due to incumbency!
In 2005 the Right to Information Act was passed by the government of India as a way of holding government departments, agencies and officials accountable. According to this law, any Indian citizen can access government records within 30 days of their request. This would help people to question and know the status of their requests, applications, etc to the government agencies, reasons for delay, etc. In other words, if a public officer is delaying processing of requests/applications expecting bribe, then he would be held accountable as there would be no explanation the officer can provide for the delay. Obviously he cant say that he was waiting for the bribe :)
5th pillar also has setup a 24/7 call center in Chennai to help public deal with corrupt officials and authorities. The call center will also guide common man about how to benefit from the RTI act and use it to get the information they require.
Good going India. Any thing well started is half done!
Hello, the most corrupt and the least corrupt states have a changed a lot… update your knowledge.
FYI, the article was written more than three years back and what is written was the THEN status.
See http://specials.rediff.com/money/2008/sep/05slide1.htm
There are two types of corruption/bribes
One its asked for doing his own duties like signing or approving the contracts etc.. (which happens in India most of time) like getting your four wheeler License even though you have passed or Getting Passport clearance from Police Station you have to pay even thought you have good records.
The other one corruption/bribe is to overrule the duties which happens outside India or may be outside mostly. I think you can experience.
True Suresh, corruption has become a part and parcel of Indian society. Common man has to pay bribe at all government offices, be it driving license, ration card, gas connection, at the courts, at police stations, passport offices, name it and you have corruption there. If all corruption money is accounted for then India is much much richer than the richest country on this planet. Then there is the high level corruption where all the ministers, MLAs, MPs, IAS officers all swindle money like anything. In fact it is as if they come to power with the sole intent to earn, sorry to loot as much as possible. Just look at the news in the last week or so, MLAs taking 1 crore bribe for voting in RS elections, thousands of crores swindled in the name of Common Wealth Games, god knows about the quality of construction, whether it will start on time, about companies being overpaid 20 to 100 times for even hiring goods on rent. Just imagine paying 40000 rent for each refrigerator for just one month, when you can buy a good one for less than that price!
Given the amount of corruption we have here and our population, one can easily vow for India as the most corrupt country on this planet.
Thanks shashi for your comments!
Thanks a lot for that wonderful link. It feels really nice to hear about such wonderful efforts.
Thanks a lot for that wonderful link. It feels really nice to hear about such wonderful efforts.
Please look at this website
http://fightcorruption.wikidot.com/
This website is run by the wife of an IAS officer in Karnataka who is fighting corruption and has some ideas to implement RTI act .Visit the website, spread the word and do all you can as PEN is mightier than the SWORD.
Your blog is realy informative and has a lot of interesting posts which is easy to understand. I will spread the word from my end.
Regards,
sanjay
Great Divya
Nice to know that you are a part of this and also have these notes. Spend/donate them as required :)
Yes, the youth will architect the future of this country in a way unparalleled in history!
I had been to their kick off meet and i should i was impressed. I have 20 copies of the Zero rupee note with me :) I saw enormous number of college students working for the cause, it was really very heartening. Hope they keep up the spirit and make a difference, and the common man encourages and suppport such a cause.