Editorial
Still a low score in fighting graft!
ACC should be strengthened, party workers reined in
SOMEONE who follows media reports on how the government is faring in fulfilling one of its electoral pledges -- the fight against corruption -- hardly needs any special research to know what is happening on the ground. So, one is hardly surprised to see a disappointing report from the Transparency International (TI), which comes up with its findings on the country's performance on combating this menace this year.
The score at 2.4 out of 10, according TI's Corruption Perception Index (CPI), is nothing to write home about. Oddly though, the present score on the CPI Index card is identical with the one we had last year.
But what does this signify? It means the government has not been able to make any progress in addressing the problem of corruption during the last one year. And while we are standing on the same spot, our close South Asian neighbour Bhutan has made substantial progress in fighting the scourge with its score at 5.7.
The TI, however, pointed at some factors behind this state of affairs. Those include uncalled-for role of the public representatives in the government's procurement process and the practice of undue political interference in the day-to-day administrative affairs.
Similarly, the leniency shown by the government towards the black money holders by allowing them to whiten their money at a nominal tax has proved to be a disincentive to the otherwise honest and law-abiding taxpaying citizens.
Add to these the culture of grabbing of rivers, forestlands and khas lands by the different vested groups including activists and supporters of the ruling party. To cut the long story short, the political corruption has only supplied the last straw to the pervasive administrative corruption.
To make things worse, the government, rather than strengthening the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) further, has made some moves that may, if materialised, go to cripple it. The report of the committee, for example, that the government formed last year towards making the ACC transparent and accountable is a classic case on this score. These include certain recommendations like the provision of seeking government permission to sue a public servant, or that of making the anti-graft body accountable to the president, or of robbing it of its status as a statutory body and so on.
However, given this unenviable record in addressing corruption thus far, the result could be worse than what we have now from TI.
There is no gainsaying the glaring fact that corruption has further spread its tentacles in every sphere of the administration and society. To stem the rot, the government would do well to revisit its electoral pledges, especially on combating corruption.
To that that end, the first thing it must do will be to rein in its party activists and the public representatives elected on its ticket and allow the administration do its job according to rule. At the same time, it should allow the ACC to function as a self-governing body with no political strings attached so that it may work without fear or favour.
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