WHO BEARS THE BURDEN OF CORRUPTION ?

This cartoon which appeared in THE HINDU on July 5 2012 , says it all - the AAM-AADMI bears it all !!. 

The man in the middle is the PM - & he  is dangling a carrot in front of the 'aam-aadmi '. The carrot is  his /the UPA Govts' trump card -" GDP growth "  ! 

The so called 'GDP growth' is only  an eye-wash, for the sake of publicity and for this Govt to make tall claims while national assets & resources are gifted away for the benefit of few & the party . The GDP growth- whatever achieved, for statistics sake ,over past 7-8 years - has been  by overlooking mind-boggling corruption, claims media reports all around - the loot of natural resources -be it coal , gas , spectrum , funds etc. The cartoon shows the corrupt ministers riding atop the PM , munching away at the 'big' fruits of corruption, which he facilitated by turning a blind eye  . And the whole burden of this corruption  is borne by the AAM- AADMI ! So true ! 

Corruption, a flourishing parallel economy of the country, accounts  almost equal or more than our GDP -proceeds of which goes directly into the personal accounts of politicians, bureaucrats and businessmen - indirectly enhancing the spiraling prices of essential commodities , real estate and inflation. Ultimately, poor common man in the street is made the scapegoat.

Statistics show , there is no growth in jobs and there is 'despair driven exodus' from rural areas ,all in a period of very rapid GDP expansion !. Then whom is the 8-10 % GDP growth really benefitting ? Those in the Govt, the most ! The average asset worth of a union minister rose from Rs.7.3 crore to Rs.10.6 crore in 28 months. Adding a modest million a month on average through 28 months. (Ref the article "Indian cabinet gets healthier " in The Hindu earlier  ). Then the GDP growth benefits select Corporates and trickling down to the Indian middle class .The same decade or let us say past 7-8 years , also has seen a period of mind boggling corruption & sell-off of the national resources or opening up of Indian markets for foreign corporates like Monsanto & now Walmart etc - all under this  UPA Govt .  

But the UPA  claims "India is rising", with deception at the heart of this publicity campaign. Even after 65 years of Independence of which 60 years were under the Congress , majority Indians are still kept deprived and desperate . Most Indians still struggle to obtain basic public services that wealthier , more secure countries take for granted . The total slum population of the country, which was 7.52 crore in 2001, has grown to 9.3 crore in 2011 (the NSSO-National Sample Survey Organisation report ). Meanwhile the Planning Commission in Sept 2011, redefined “below the poverty line “ for Indians to even below Sub- Saharan levels to artificially suppress the growing number of poor in the country !!. Same time, Illegal outflows from the country to tax havens grew exponentially and in just five years from 2004-08 alone, the country lost roughly Rs.4.3 lakh crores to such outflows (ref GFI report).  A large chunk of these illegal outflows is brought back into the country again by politicians and political partys' to maintain their grip on power.The large quantums of cash seized during any elections across the country bears  testimony to this bitter truth  .

A peaceful revolution is the only answer ! A grass roots movement must take shape .It is necessary for like minded intellectuals, academics, professionals, civil society , students /the youth and NGOs to linkup and debate on finding out ways and means to achieve peaceful revolution for change to happen ........if possible before 2014 general election. Learned judges of High Courts and Supreme Court can contribute significantly to make this change happen .