The inception of Anna Hazare’s anti-corruption movement was
an epochal event which will go down in the annals of Indian history as one that
reformed the face of modern India. It has created a sense of panic among the
ministers who were used to basking in the comfortable sun of power. Now that comfort
is eroding and that sun is slowly turning cold. A certain fear has been stirred
in the conscience of the corrupt. But above all, it has brought people from all
lifestyles together against a simmering cause which has had a sizable impact on
their lives since ever. It was the common platform against this anger, not so
much the love for Anna Hazare, which has made it a successful movement. But
some uncomfortable questions need to be asked.
In the 2G scam, A. Raja was implicated, along with some top
honchos of the telecom operators that were alleged to be involved. They, along
with Kanimozhi, are still behind bars. But the problem is that thus far the CBI
has not been able to come up with sizable evidence to prosecute them. Yes, the
power of collective anger of the middle class says that they must be involved.
But what good do we know? There is a lot that goes on behind closed doors and
who committed what crime and with what intentions is something that is always
very hard to verify. But the Congress had to act to save its face. This
expedited action has led to an undesirable fallout. Policymaking has never been
the problem, but implementation has been the bane of Indian polity. This
peculiar position has been made worse by the Anna Hazare movement.
Implementation of reforms by the government has come to a standstill, which is
having a very negative effect on the growth stimulus that the government is
supposed to provide to the ever slowing industry growth. Policymakers widely
agree on the opinion that the soaring inflation can be given only a breather by
the monetary policy of the RBI, and only quick implementation of long term
reforms can bring down prices. High interest rates are in turn slowing down the
growth, which can further be bolstered only by reforms. But babus sitting the
cushy offices are no more comfortable signing blindly on the files passed on
from above. In fact, they believe the safest thing to do is to let the file eat
the dust. Why be involved and sign on a seemingly harmless piece of paper which
may turn out to be a scam tomorrow and come back to haunt them? And that is
what exactly is happening. The wheels of the Executive are stuck in the morass
of procrastination.
But then this is the downside of a democracy, that behind a
freedom of expression, there could be an abuser, behind a Right to Information
enquiry, there could a defamer, behind a rape accusation, there could be an
avenger, and behind a safeguarding power conferred to the armed forces, there
could easily be a human-rights violation. A well-functioning government should
know how best to balance these opposing forces, but the eternal dilly-dallying
by our present rulers on important issues has worsened the problem. Congress
could make a beginning by taking care of the reform implementation, now! Being
too late on that front can prove disastrous for the Indian economy,
notwithstanding its strong fundamentals in the face of the impending Euro zone
debt default.