Corruption, as we all know, breeds, buds and blossoms in mire and has a frightening capability to embrace all in its path once it takes root. To then try and come clean is a near impossible task without disrupting lives and livelihood. Delhi is beginning to going through the rigours of such social reform with the sealing of illegal commercial establishments.
The definition of ‘illegal’ seems to be undergoing a change as the Union minister for urban affairs says that we must not look back and punish those who broke the law, but instead, look forward. In normal language, that can only mean that citizens are free to break the law because the next morning they will be forgiven. This is absurd!
Why is no one accountable for any of the social horrors that we as Indians face? Delhi, and this one example, summarises the reason. The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) reports to the lieutenant- governor of the state and not to the chief minister. It also reports or works at the behest of the urban development ministry. This government institution owns and controls the land, the great asset that is being misused and polluted with corruption and malpractices.
The DDA was to have released land for development but it released only 16% of what it was mandated to. Its bosses protected this authority until the Supreme Court was compelled to intervene in an attempt to stem the rot created by a failed executive that has endorsed breaking of the law by not enforcing it. The home minister and the urban development minister have both failed to deliver an administration based on the rules and norms that govern this land.
Why are they not accountable to the government and to India? Why all this pussyfooting? On whose behest are these ministries operating, delaying, and corrupting development and legitimate growth? Why is the ‘authority’, which has endorsed corruption and illegality, blatantly getting away with it?
The other point of reference is the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, the MCD, that reports directly to the minister of home affairs in the Central cabinet. This is the second centre of power. For this ministry, the ‘sealing of illegal commercial complexes’ is not a priority, something that can be allowed to run its course. They only show their face when the traders strike and a possible ‘law and order’ problem could disrupt the city of India’s leaders.
Why should the home minister be in charge of the municipality? Why not the chief minister? And, if it is the home minister who is the final resting point of this symbol of corrupt practices, then surely he should be accountable to the government and the people. Why does he get away with his failure? What is the government protecting?
In a situation of scarcity, corruption runs amuck. When the levers of power decide to condone wrong, at a price, citizens recognise the weakness of those who make the law and the two join hands to break the law. Corruption has become an abiding and accepted norm in our society. Politicians and ministers openly say bygones should be bygones. It is a scary?the slide into becoming an anarchic, uncivilised banana republic with a vibrant, booming economy. These ingredients, blended together, will play havoc with civil society, with those who aspire to live and work in dignity with integrity.
If the government was serious about addressing this, among other important issues, and if it believed in honesty, it would not be behaving as it is?and it certainly would not condone breaking of the law.
First, there should be one point of reference and not three because that in itself smacks of illegality in its divide-and-rule mechanism. Second, why has the Bill to make Delhi a state not been tabled before Parliament by the present government? Is it because three centres of power are more lucrative than one? Or, is it because this way no one person or ministry is responsible or accountable? Is this good governance? All this sounds simplistic and irrelevant but it is the crux of the disease that has overwhelmed us all.