RTI activist Arvind Kejriwal related the Hongkong cleanup story. In the1970s Hongkong was so corrupt with police-mafia nexus so strong that hundreds of thousands of angry citizens came out on the streets to protest against it. The government had to set up an independent body Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) to deal with corruption. The Hongkong government gave complete powers to the Commission to take any action, it saw fit to rid Hongkong of this corruption which had led to an out-of-control spiraling crime graph.
The first thing the ICAC did was to sack 103 police officers from a force of 107 officers. The message went out immediately that corruption would not be tolerated any more and today Hongkong is one of the most honest countries in the world.
If it worked in Hongkong, it can work in India. Presently the two bodies dealing with corruption in the country are the Central Vigilance Comission (CVC) and the Central Burea of Investigation (CBI). The CVC is an advisory body. It can only recommend to the Government that action should be taken against erring officers or polticians. The Government has not jailed anyone in the last 5 years based on recommendations of the CVC. The CBI are completely controlled by the government. This is why the corrupt go free, unless there is a Lokpal Bill in place.
By Abhishek Chaturvedi
No comments:
Post a Comment