This bureaucrat exists and he currently works in the home ministry. The only reason I do not name him is because he would be furious as he'd feel cheap and exposed. Honesty is not something he flaunts. Honesty is his way of life because that's simply the way he likes to live...just like the fact that options may be many, but he still likes to eat his home-made lunch of curd rice from a steel tiffin carrier in his office.
As we seethe with anger and disgust over the can of worms opened by Tehelka, we should not jump to the conclusion that the entire defence ministry is rotten. The fact is there still are a few men and women in the establishment who do the country proud. They are unsung heroes. Undoubtedly, the system stinks and villains abound. But just because the media's focused on the bad guys doesn't mean there are no good guys left.
Good guys like this bureaucrat who renegotiated a signed contract with British Aerospace that was supplying Jaguars to us. He renegotiated to bring the price down on certain spare parts and saved India Rs 11 crore. Had he been in the private sector, he would probably have received a bonus of at least one per cent. In the government, he didn't even receive a pat on his back. But that didn't deter him from applying the same level of scrutiny in his country's interest when he had to sign the next deal.
The Tehelka exposure has left a wake of public cynicism regarding the conduct of politicians and bureaucrats. The rot that seems so deep and so pervasive is matched only by people's helplessness. Almost everybody yearns for a cleaner system. Experts and armchair analysts proffer a deluge of ideas, suggestion and advice, but the sad part is nothing ever gets done. In a few months from now, it will be business as usual—and arms dealers will once again crawl out of their plush farmhouses into the sleazy netherworld of wheeling and dealing, while corrupt politicians and bureaucrats revert to their surreptitious deals—the only difference being they will now be on the lookout for hidden recorders and spy cameras. The situation seems irredeemable, if only because all political groupings are self-righteous in opposition, but corrupt when in power.
Corruption begins at the top. So says this honest bureaucrat who has negotiated for central and state governments on deals ranging from arms to medical equipment supplied by mncs for government hospitals. He says if the minister is corrupt, then you can be rest assured that bribes are the key to every transaction. Bureaucrats take their cut: and if they are honest, they just look the other way, while the minister rakes in the collections.But if the minister is a man of integrity, he'd usually choose a few good bureaucrats to work for him. In such a situation, the public genuinely benefits. As this bureaucrat revealed, on one occasion, when the mnc realised the minister would not take a bribe, they reduced the bill by 16 per cent, saving a big sum for the state exchequer.
It is heartening to remind ourselves that a few good guys still exist within the system. But many would say the honest bureaucrat or politician, if not an oxymoron, is at least a vanishing species. The danger is not that they are disappearing but that they are not allowed to rise to the very top to hold the powerful jobs. Even a decade ago, appointments in the bureaucracy were largely made on merit. The trouble is that now bureaucrats need to network with politicians and business houses if they are to get promoted to important jobs. Those who are willing to do this are obviously compromised and those who refuse are sidelined. This is the real danger facing the Indian establishment.
And this is the sadness I saw in the eyes of this honest bureaucrat who now awaits his next posting. He doesn't expect bonuses and pats on the back. But he would like to get his due. But he cannot bring himself to network and so is reconciled to a relatively innocuous job hereafter. It is for this reason that this man fills me with both pride and despair...pride at his past, despair for his future, and therefore for India's future.
A few years ago I was asked if there was a glass ceiling for women. I said no and I still believe that. But now there appears to be a glass ceiling for honest, upright people with uncompromising principles. You can perhaps even rise to the top job even though you have been scrupulously honest, but increasingly it seems to be getting more difficult to hold on to your job, unless you allow yourself to be co-opted into a rotten system. Even if you don't participate in the corruption, it would appear you can survive at the top only if you are willing to turn a blind eye to corruption. Those who refuse to are thrown out or forced to leave amidst a cloud of controversy that obfuscates the real issue. The recent history of our political, bureaucratic and defence establishment is pockmarked with the corpses of men who fought and lost this insidious war of corruption.
(The author can be contacted at anitapratap@journalist.com)
