India is in the midst of scams running into an astronomical figure. The one relating to 2G spectrum comes to $2 billion. The estimate about corruption in the Commonwealth Games held recently in Delhi is around $5 billion. Bureaucrats and some foreign firms have been found indulging in over-invoicing or high-jacking the cost of works. There are also a few housing scandals. In fact, one scam or the other has been tumbling out of the government closet at regular intervals in the last three months.
The public is horrified over the disclosures. The impression that has spread in the country is that the system is reeking with corruption. The matter could have been discussed in Parliament. The ruling Congress party made the offer. Yet the opposition was united on the demand for Joint Parliamentary Committee. The government probably did not want an omnibus inquiry and offered a limited scrutiny by Public Accounts Committee by the two houses.
The 23-day-winter session of Parliament was thus a washout, costing the exchequer nearly one million dollars. The standoff between the two main political parties, the centrist Congress and the right of centre Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), has even made Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to ventilate his worry over the future of parliamentary system. No doubt, he has overreacted but when the apex body in the country does not function, the peoples cynicism over the democratic polity is not out of place.
One top Indian banker has said in a television interview that the India story might not be over when everything seemed to be going just right. His worry was that the Manmohan Singh government might not be pulling as a team. Nothing on the ground suggests that because only one minister, A. Raja, dealing with telecommunications, has been dropped from the cabinet because of the 2G spectrum scam. Other a team appears cohesive.
What has disturbed the corporate sector, contributing to the countrys rapid growth, is the point Rattan Tata, a leading industrialist, has raised before the Supreme Court: tapping of telephones. He has spoken out in rather strong terms against the banana republic syndrome of rules and laws being disregarded and privacy being encroached upon. Many top industrialists have joined Tata in expressing their fear over privacy.
A balanced articulation of the countrys difficulties on several fronts is certainly in order. Identifying problems is the first step in finding solutions. Those in high positions, particularly the prime minister, indeed have a special responsibility in this regard. It is therefore surprising to see Finance Minister Pranab Mukherejee speaking at a recent financial forum that our democracy is getting too noisy. He appealed for some silence.
One may infer that India is in a mess. To some extent it is. Yet this has not deterred top heads of state from visiting Delhi. American President Obama, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao have already toured the country. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev is visiting later this month. And it was British Prime Minister David Cameron who started the series of visits soon after his election early this year.
The reason for the focus on India is that its a huge market. In the .population of one billion, nearly 3,000 million can afford to buy anything which Britain, America, France, China or Russia can offer. This also explains why every visiting dignitary brought along with him a large delegation of businessmen and industrialists. Many deals have been signed and many are on the anvil. Developed countries do not mind a bit of a mess so long as they can make money.
The fallout of all this is that the stock of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has gone down. In the perception of people, he has not been able to contain corruption, still worse that he knew about his dishonest ministers and bureaucrats and did not do anything to control them. His personal credibility, still high, has been chipped by the allegations of corruption at high places. This has damaged the ruling party as well. General elections are still three years away. But three states, West Bengal, Punjab and Tamilnadu, are going to the polls. It looks as if the scams which have come out at the Central level may adversely affect the fortunes of the Congress party.
The writer is a senior Indian journalist.
