Privatise Corruption

Desmond Macedo

Dan Mullagathanny noticed that it is mostly the government officials and politicians who have control over the Corruption Sector. Almost all scams are connected to the government. A few private companies have managed to get a share of this industry like those that got coal allotments and 2G licenses, which again were mainly through connections in the government, but this is not enough to call it a free market. 

You see an everyday example of this discrimination at traffic signals. The cops are assisted by civilian traffic wardens, the guys in ill-fitting blue trousers, ill-fitting rubber shoes and a whistle that nobody listens to. These guys are not authorized to collect bribes from vehicle drivers and they clearly look it, unlike the cops in their Ray-Ban Inspector Shades.

Dan thought, the arms supply industry would be a good place to start this disinvestment - if privatized it could benefit Indian entrepreneurs, who can set up units to manufacture and supply the army with substandard armoured equipment and vehicles, and substandard spares.  The defense, with its staggering budgets, and frequent complaints of substandard imports, has the potential to set in place an entire downstream industry of corruption, including Backward Integration because, then, there is no need to import the substandard stuff anymore; you manufacture it locally. 

Corruption in India is already large enough to be deemed an industry by the Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, eligible for tax cuts, etc. Hence, the downstream industry of the army just mentioned will be taxed so that government does not lose revenue. A quick policy change would, therefore, be necessary; that of declaring corruption an Organised Sector.

Nitin Gadkari, pictured here, president of BJP, India’s major opposition party, now has many scandals to his name but the BJP still wishes to retain him in the party. That's because politicians will encourage corruption among their own class, but never allow outsiders to benefit. Recently he stuck both his feet into his mouth and was left rolling on the ground for want of erect legs because he compared the IQs of Dawood Ibrahim and Swami Vivekananda.  More recently, when the Railway Minister was hit by accusations that his nephew was using his influence to sell railway appointments, he, along with his wife, prayed to a goat so he may go scotfree.  "This sector could have a soft spinoff if decontrolled," thought Dan Mullagathanny. "Right now only politicos and government officers are allowed the privilege of astonishing stupidity - more people in India can do with this benefit."

Another area that could be opened up to private investment is infrastructure in villages. Many of them do not have paved roads. Locals and farmers, the section of the electorate that Sonia Gandhi cares most about, can be allowed to invest in this sector and award road-paving contracts to favoured contractors, who will use substandard material and engineering know-how so that cracks and potholes will form frequently, the repair of which will be awarded to the same contractors and the same villagers will pay taxes to the same government to use the same roads that frequently need the same repairs, thus maintaining a steady circulation of wealth. 

If anything, Dan Mullagathanny concluded, recycling corruption, the unique Indian facility allowed only to government officials, should be decontrolled so that more sections of society benefit from it."