The Method Behind The Madness

SILENCE OF THE SCAMS
Corruption is increasingly tightening its grip over the daily lives of Indian citizens. Experts describe it as a form of 'tidal corruption'. It has, therefore, become vital to shift attention from the corrupt to the system which breeds corruption

The silence is deafening. The corrupt observe a code of silence. So do the corrupted. And the people suffer in silence. If only all the trees and the various species that live in India's environment could speak, they, too, would speak volumes about corruption. But given their existential reality, they also suffer corruption in silence. Corruption makes a mockery of the system of governance, of democracy and of development efforts. It leads to the degradation of the environment, robs regeneration efforts of effectiveness and prevents efforts to control pollution.

Eminent economist Gunnar Myrdal, writing in his famous trilogy Asian Drama: An Inquiry into the Poverty of Nations in 1968, had said; "Although corruption is very much an issue of public debate in all South Asian countries, it is almost taboo as a research topic and is rarely mentioned in scholarly discussions of the problems of government and planning." He added, "...a commonly expressed opinion in India is that administrative corruption, in its various forms, is all around us all the time and that it is rising."

It is now 30 years since Myrdal published his study. Precious little has changed since then except that corruption has risen. In recent years, the media, the courts and the civil society, especially in India, have been paying greater attention to high-level corruption within the political world.

Apart from the public interest cases that have been filed against allegedly corrupt politicians, anti-corruption campaigns led by Krishna Bhaurao Hazare (popularly known as Anna Hazare), an environment activist-turned-corruption crusader, have received considerable media publicity. But this has resulted in more talk about "the corrupt" instead of a debate on the "sources and causes of corruption". It is equally, if not more, important that the administrative form of corruption or the reasons behind it are also highlighted by the media. When we think of corruption, we think of defence deals and gas pipelines or fodder and stock market scams. The focus is always on the corrupt.

Meanwhile, the system of governance is being eroded also by the corrupt at a much lower level. It is often the corruption of these minor functionaries which affects the common person. When it comes to dealing with problems such as poverty, illiteracy, creating a balance between the environment and development, and providing everyone with access to clean drinking water and decent, basic health services, low-level corruption is the major roadblock.

Experiences from abroad also have something to teach us. The us, Japan and South Korea are among the most dynamic countries in the world where higher political echelons are known to be riddled with corrupt practices. But what differentiates these countries from South Asian countries, such as India, is that once a politician gets enmeshed in a corruption scandal, regardless of whether that politician is a president or a prime minister, he/she has to pay a price. On the other hand, in India the famous hawala case, in which several politicians were charged but no evidence was unearthed, has shown that our investigation agencies leave a lot to be desired. Moreover, there is almost no low-level corruption in these countries, leaving the average citizen free from exposure to corruption.

The inefficiency, sloth and inaction of the Indian government is taking a far heavier toll on its citizens, the economy and development than any high-level political corruption ever can. Today corruption affects the daily life of every Indian citizen. India today suffers from what a corruption expert has called the phenomenon of "tidal corruption". As a result, everybody joins in the plunder of state resources, including state-owned natural resources. Corrupt junior forest officials abet the pillage of forest produce. Those who live in the jungle have no stake in saving the woods. Hence they prefer to join in the plunder. Corrupt government officials siphon funds meant to clean drains, repair roads and dispose off garbage. The residents know their grievances will not be redressed. They, therefore, keep quiet and, thus, abet the plunder.

The state-owned Indian Oil Corporation knows that it is supplying dirty fuel well below international standards despite the fact that their actions are responsible for the deaths of thousands of urban Indians. Moreover, there is enormous adulteration of diesel with kerosene because kerosene is priced cheaper. In addition, various waste streams coming out from refineries are purchased and used to adulterate motor fuels, especially petrol which is heavily taxed and, therefore, very expensive. Monitoring of this adulteration is extremely poor. And as a result nobody really knows precisely what is the exact nature of the chemical soup that marks India's urban air. The public also participates in this corruption by keeping quiet about the pollution of the air.

India's governance system was developed in the 19th century by a colonial power whose key interest was to exploit the country and extract as much wealth as it could for its own economic growth. This governance system has continued into the post-independence period and it cannot lead India to a dynamic future in the 21st century, especially a future which will be riddled with problems of heavy population growth, industrialisation, urbanisation, agricultural modernisation, poverty, illiteracy and pollution. It is obvious that India's governance system must change. It has become critical for us to identify and promote effective efforts to fight corruption. Even if the political system does not respond to this challenge, the civil society must organise a powerful force against it.

Some Western experts and economists tend to argue that corruption may be immoral but it is nothing more than a transaction cost. Such an argument can lead to the belief that Fighting corruption is not important. But that is far from the truth. Various studies have shown that corruption affects the rate of economic growth of nations. But what is even worse is that for those poor people who cannot afford to pay the so-called "transaction costs" - and there are tens of millions of such people in India - corruption tantamounts to oppression and violence by officials and can engender considerable public alienation. Corruption can become a major social evil in highly divided societies in which state officials come from the upper classes. Corrupt officials will ensure that the benefits of official programmes do not reach the poor and the marginalised. Therefore, corruption will have enormous economic, social and ecological costs in a country like India.

THE CRAFT OF CORRUPTION
But it is not just afforestation on government lands that can suffer from corruption, so can afforestation on private lands. During the late 1970s and 1980s, the government encouraged millions of farmers to plant trees in order to help meet their basic needs, like firewood and fodder. But to protect the forest cover, various state governments had already enacted cumbersome'laws to prevent timber smuggling.

These laws discouraged farmers from planting new trees. On the one hand, the government called upon people to plant trees, but, on the other hand, mandated them to seek permission to fell trees, and transport the wood. These laws only encourage harassment and corruption by forest officials, illegal activity and, in the process, do nothing to increase the tree cover (see box: Scandal wood).

A recent study conducted by the Crafts Council of India, which was undertaken to assess the reasons why wood availability for traditional craftspersons has been declining, lists these highly cumbersome laws in several states.

• The Uttar Pradesh Protection of Trees and Hill Areas Act, 1976, makes it illegal to fell any tree excepting one which is dead or has fallen without the aid of human agency. To fell a tree, an illiterate villager has to tile a written application to the authority concerned. The decision should be normally given within 90 days and, in the case of a dead tree, within seven days. In case the decision is not conveyed within the prescribed time frame then permission is deemed to have been granted (though many villagers may not be aware of this provision). If any applicant is dissatisfied with the decision, a representation can be made within 30 days to the revising authority (RA). The decision of the RA is final.

• Madhya Pradesh, with the country's largest forest cover, has equally unwieldy rules. It has nationalised six tree species - teak, sal, bijasal, rosewood, sain and khair-cutch. A tree owner has to obtain revenue records and apply to the collector for permission to fell trees. The produce has to be sold to the government. There is usually a big time lag between the date of application, disposal and payment. The rules for non-nationalised trees include four additional steps before the farmer can sell in the open market. In order to avoid this, tree owners of both nationalised and non-nationalised species sell their trees at cheap rates to touts and contractors who know how to grease "the system" and get permission to cut and billet trees, get transit passes and transport logs to the sales depots.

• The Punjab Land Preservation Act applies to both Punjab and Haryana. Felling of trees is a legal offence. Applications for felling trees are received twice a year. No felling is allowed unless the land owner has planted three times the number to be felled and the trees so planted are at least two years old. The Punjab Forest Development Corporation (FDC) is responsible for felling, sale and auction of wood. Traders are allowed to import timber from outside the state. In Haryana, the FDC is engaged in felling and trading timber. Transit passes are required for transport of forestry produce in certain areas.

• The Himachal Forest Produce Regulation of Trade Act, 1982, requires private tree owners to obtain permission for felling trees on their land. Once the trees are felled, they have to be sold to the state government or its authorised agent.

Recognising the problems created by these cumbersome laws, the Swedish International Development Authority (SIDA) withdrew its support for an afforestation programme in Bihar in the early 1990s. Its repeated pleas to revise such laws because they were making the entire programme ineffective fell on deaf ears.

The government systems have failed to protect its forests. Timber smuggling is rampant in many parts of India. And in order to control illegal smuggling of wood, it has imposed an incredible array of restrictions on private farmers which then militate against afforestation programmes. To avoid the unwieldy rules, farmers often bribe forest officials, who have their arms stretched far and wide. In the process, the farmer sees no benefit in planting new trees and thus the forest cover declines drastically.

THE LAW OF THE JUNGLE
"No worthwhile campaign to fight crime against wildlife can succeed without the cooperation of the people inhabiting protected areas and buffer zones," says a government report. However, wildlife protection laws are doing exactly the opposite - turning the people into outlaws in their own habitat. The result: forest-dwellers view the forest and wildlife as a "leper's sore". They become an easy prey to the designs of poachers who exploit their knowledge of the forests. The government's strategy has mainly been to induct more guards. But it is clear that unless local communities are made stakeholders in the forest, and given tangible and real control, bringing about a change will be difficult.

Various provisions of the Forest Act give forest functionaries wide powers. Tribal activist M D Mistry of Gujarat cites Section 69 of the Act which presumes that forest produce belongs to the government unless proved contrary. Similarly, Section 64 empowers officials to arrest a person without a warrant which gives functionaries wide powers. The Act also requires a "transit pass" to shift any produce through the forests. Thus for the forest communities there are just two options - either break the laws or pay a price to allow it to be broken.

The Gujjars, nomadic herdspeople, were faced with a peculiar problem in the autumn of 1992. The forest guards who normally "granted" them entry into the state-owned forests (their winter abode in the foothills of the Himalaya) presented them with a new demand. The "entry fee" had gone up. They were told that the prime minister had gone to a foreign land called Rio where it was agreed that human beings would not be allowed into the forests. Now the guards could allow the Gujjars in, but at a personal risk. Thus, instead of the usual rate of one kg of ghee per milking animal each month and one kg of milk per day for each animal, they needed to double the bribe. And for the ghaas salami (literally meaning salute for the grass) instead of Rs 30 per animal, they now needed Rs 80 per animal. The "Rio payment", as this came to be known, is paid till date. Such payments arc not unusual. Poor forest-dwellers and villagers regularly pay them for their survival (see box: Birds of burden).

As a result, forest communities have no stake in conservation programmes. And poachers and smugglers have a field day while local forest functionaries mull over the provisions of the Act for their personal gains.

IN THE NAME OF THE POOR
The official loot of the treasury can have equally adverse effects on the environment. Government subsidies have been considered necessary to support the poor and meet vital national goals like self-sufficiency in food. But subsidies given in the name of the poor have usually benefited the rich. For instance, subsidy on diesel for irrigation provides cheap fuel to run luxury cars (see box: Robbing the poor).

Untargetted subsidies have led to inefficiency in the use of natural resources and consequent over consumption has had adverse impacts on the resource itself. Even the white paper on government subsidies in India produced by former Finance Minister, P Chidambaram, accepts that "untargetted subsidies promote inefficiency and wastage of scare resources".

Even the relative importance of different subsidies has also changed over the years. Food subsidies which accounted for 70 per cent of total explicit subsidies had declined to 40 per cent in 1995-96 as compared to the previous year. And in 1994-95, the Centre spent more than five times less money on "merit" goods - necessary for social justice and equity - than what it did on "non-merit goods".

FAR AND WIDE
In a bid to protect the global environment, various countries have forged environmental treaties relating to protection of the ozone layer, global biodiversity and endangered species. Corruption can affect the successful outcome of several of these treaties, as in the case of the Indo-China tiger conservation programme (see box: Species at stake).

The smuggling of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) is another happening which threatens to jeopardise the Montreal Protocol. An estimated us $500 million worth of CFCs were smuggled into the US in 1996. It is alleged that CFCs manufactured in India, China, Mexico - developing countries are allowed to continue manufacture of CFCs under the pact - are finding their way to the industrialised world. Although the us has stopped producing or importing CFCs, it has not banned the sale or use of the compound made before the 1996 deadline. The exemption, meant for the servicing millions of on-road cars which use CFC air conditioning, has encouraged a black market to flourish. Smuggled CFCs are passed on as recycled CFCs. While there is no evidence to link Indian industries to the illegal trade, it is suggested that CFCs manufactured in India and exported to licensed dealers or industries as per the guidelines of the Montreal Protocol makes its way to lucrative markets in North America and Europe. Russian manufacturers are said to be deeply involved in the illegal CFC trade.