Fighting corruption can begin with boycotting bribe-giver

If there is a mismatch, common sense will tell you that prices of products will either fall or rise based on the imbalance. When things go wrong in companies, Strategy consultants often tell management to look at the organisation structure or the entire supply-chain process to set things in order.

So it is with the fight against corruption. It needs to be looked at in its entirety -- supply, demand and the continuum of such transactions. There is a symbiotic relationship between the giver and taker in every corrupt transaction and they indeed share the loot. In the battle against corruption thus far, the focus has rightly been on politicians and bureaucrats.

The omnipotent misuse of public office for private gain makes them the biggest beneficiaries of ill gotten wealth. But for the fight to be pervasive and to crack the politician, bureaucrat, businessman nexus, attention also needs to be on the giver.  In the past, there have been many individuals who have attempted in vain to take on the system or expose the giver singlehandedly. Their efforts have been futile and in some cases have paid dearly with their lives. Recently Amit Jethwa, an RTI activist who tried to end illegal mining in Gujarat was shot dead by people who were profiteering from the act.

Last year, Satish Shetty another RTI activist, who had blown the whistle on a series of land scams in and around Pune was brutally murdered. In 2003, Satyendra Dubey the outstanding project director at the NHAI was killed in Bihar for exposing corruption in the Golden Quadrilateral contracts. Close on its heels came the murder of a young IIM graduate Manjunath Shanmugham in Uttar Pradesh, who tried to take on corrupt petrol dealers of Indian Oil Corporation. The somber effort of these fine individuals makes a compelling case for a concerted collective action by citizens against the giver. There is no better form of collective action known to mankind than Gandhigiri. It can be used effectively to boycott products or services of companies that foment corruption in government and fleece the taxpayers. What if the telecom services of Swan Telecom and Unitech were boycotted by consumers for their involvement in the 2G spectrum scandal? If Lavasa is found to have obtained environmental clearance for the project by paying bribes, what if no one buys a flat from builder – Hindustan Construction? If cricket teams of the Indian Premier League are a breeding ground for money laundering, what if cricket matches of those IPL teams receive a no show from fans?

Credible institutional mechanism

Citizens do not need new laws or assistance from the government to launch an effective campaign against the giver. All they require is a credible institutional mechanism that is cost effective to make the boycott successful. Like a group of women who effectively organised a ‘pink chaddi’ campaign on the internet to silence rabble-rousers and bigots in a short period of time, a group of eminent individuals whom the citizen’s trust can act as watchdog, evaluate government contracts and publish the results on internet.

The group ‘India Against Corruption’ is eminently qualified to act as a watchdog. It has many accomplished individuals - Sri Ravi Shankar, Kiran Bedi, Arvind Kejriwal, Anna Hazare and Mallika Sarabhai – distinguished men and women with impeccable credentials and unimpeachable integrity. The other group that can take on the mantle of a watchdog is Transparency International. Being part of the World Economic Forum’s - Partnering Against Corruption Initiative (PACI), they already have a process to evaluate government contracts in many countries.

Every month or periodically, an evaluation can be conducted on the Central and state government contracts and clearances. If companies are found to be corrupt, they can alert the public of boycott of products or services or ask other corporations to stop dealing with them. Companies can also submit themselves to this group on a voluntary basis once they win a government contract to prove to taxpayers that the contract was awarded without paying bribe.  Rampant corruption is fast corroding the confidence of investors and is beginning to have an adverse impact on the India growth story. With ever increasing public appetite for better infrastructure and government penchant for social programmes, Central and state governments are expected to spend more than Rs 25 lakh crore over the next decade in public works contracts and various schemes. In the current scenario more than half this money will likely be siphoned off by the politician, bureaucrat, businessman nexus with citizens passively watching.

With corruption being cynosure of public eyes, there is a window of opportunity that exists now to cleanse and reform the system. It is time for citizens to declare an open war on corruption, follow the ideals of Mahatma Gandhi and resolve to fight it through collective action. A people’s initiative to boycott products or services of corrupt companies is more likely to have far reaching effect on politics and politicians as well as corporations than any law or regulation enacted by the government.