Corruption- A threat to Democracy
Human history has so far witnessed three modes or forms of governance: (a) governance by a monarch / king; (b) rule by a dictator; and (c) democratic governance. Through a process of trial and error, democracy with all its flaws has come to be accepted as the best form of governance. India with its great heritage of moral values, culture and civilization is undoubtedly the largest democratic country in the world. After independence, India accepted the Parliamentary form of democracy in which all powers of the state were vested in the hands of elected representatives of the people. Parliament and State Legislatures are the most important pillars of Indian democracy. People elect their representatives periodically and elections form an integral part of our democratic system. The genuine aspirations and expectations of the people can be reflected only through fair elections. It was thus obligatory on the part of the Members of Parliament (MPs) and the Members of the Legislative Assemblies (MLAs) in the states to behave according to the norms laid down in our Constitution and to strive to protect our great heritage and moral values. But the proverbial dictum, 'Power corrupts and absolute power
In our system both the bribe giver and the bribe taker are guilty. Corruption is endemic in a developing country. The Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947 was passed to curb corruption. As far as the Indian system goes accountability is missing. This meant that bureaucracy must be committed not to the constitution but to the government of the day. It marked the fading away of the Gandhian and Nehruvian era of principled politics and the emergence of new politics, the keynote of which as amorality. Poverty is viewed as the major cause of corruption and it leads many honest persons to dishonesty. The continuous decline in moral standards in public life is yet another reason for corrupt practices. Those who committed several atrocities on the people became their masters overnight. The system fails to serve the common man and as a People we have been forced to relinquish the ideals that inspired the founders of modern India to envision the country as a model of people-oriented politics and development for the rest of the world. According to the judgement of the supreme court in the JMM case, the bribe receiving MP who has to do some activity within the Parliament is not guilty but the bribe giver even if he is a Member of Parliament is guilty. To ensure effective governance of the country we have three major wings, the Legislature, the Executive and the Judiciary. There are three crore cases pending in the Indian courts. The third set of beneficiaries in this process were the unscrupulous contractors who bribed their way to lucrative government contracts and the kin and relatives of politicians and bureaucrats. The fundamental changes in the Constitution which would insulate executive authority from legislature and include appropriate checks and compliances against the abuse of political power.
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