marine
Mann
CHENNAI, INDIA–Senthil Ramalingam was chatting on his cellphone as he cruised through the streets of this southern Indian city when he saw something that depresses drivers everywhere: flashing police car lights in his rear-view mirror.
Once he pulled over, an officer walked to Ramalingam's car and settled into the front passenger seat. He was ready to talk business.
For 400 rupees ($9 Canadian), the officer said, he would let Ramalingam go with no ticket.
Ramalingam handed over a slip of paper that looked like oversized currency.
The purple "zero rupee" bill features a photo of Mahatma Gandhi, who also graces real Indian bank bills, as well as a similar typeface. It reads: "Eliminate corruption at all levels ... I promise to neither accept nor give bribe."
The officer refused to accept the bill. Without a word, he left the car and drove off.
Stories like Ramalingam's are common in this country. Even as India asserts itself as a global power, many residents have felt the sting of government corruption.
In its 2009 corruption perception index, the watchdog group Transparency International ranked India 84th out of 180 countries.
The advocacy group said too many parliamentarians – at least nine federal ministers in 2008 – were allowed to continue in their posts despite having criminal records.
Critics also charge India's Central Bureau of Investigation is poorly trained to ferret out large-scale corruption and is disinclined to pursue small-scale crimes.
The CBI, responsible for investigating corruption allegations in this country of 1.1 billion, has 5,000 agents. Canada's RCMP, by contrast, has 19,000 sworn officers.
Even so, here in Chennai, some residents are battling corruption with noteworthy results.
Thanks in part to a non-government group called Fifth Pillar – also responsible for printing and distributing about a million zero rupee notes – corrupt officials have been jailed or fired and ill-gotten properties have been seized.
A key tool, activists say, is making people aware of their rights and teaching them how to use India's powerful Right To Information Act.
Passed in 2005, the act puts to shame Canada's Access to Information legislation. It gives citizens the right to demand timely answers of public officials; if the requests are ignored for more than 60 days, personal fines to government employees can run as high as 250,000 rupees ($5,700).
"This act is becoming a more powerful weapon with every passing day," said New Delhi-based business consultant Sudershan Banerjee.
He cited a recent case where, "for the cost of a piece of paper and a 10-rupee stamp, the entire Indian Supreme Court judiciary had to publicly declare their assets."
One recent weekday morning, Fifth Pillar founder Vijay Anand ambled into a classroom at Chennai's Queen Mary's College For Women to discuss the ways Indians can fight corruption.
Getting his message out to students is critical, said Anand, 40. While many middle-aged and elderly Indians are cynical after growing up in a culture where bribes were required even for the installation of a home phone, young people are easier to convince of the evils of corruption, he said.
And there's no shortage of youth. About 54 per cent of India's population is younger than 25.
For an hour, Anand discussed corruption in India and his audience – 38 young women – was riveted. Anand spoke about the deadly 2004 tsunami that killed more than 225,000 people across Southeast Asia.
"Japan has a tsunami every six or seven years," Anand said, "but there's a early-warning system in place to give people time to escape to safety."
Many students nodded agreement when Anand blamed the absence of a comparable system in India on corruption.
"Our country is sick with corruption," 19-year-old Raia Lakshmi said later. Lakshmi was forced to pay a bribe of 250 rupees for a document proving her family belonged to one of India's lowest castes, needed for her college applications under the country's reserved-admission system.
Anand explained how some Chennai residents use the RTI Act.
He spoke of one who – after months of frustration – filed an RTI request asking which government employee was responsible for distributing ration cards, which give residents the right to purchase subsidized goods such as rice and cooking oil.
She had her ration card within 72 hours.
"These corrupt officials want this all hush-hush," Anand said. "They want to go into their cocoon and the RTI doesn't allow them to do that."
Later, the students stood, zero-rupee notes in hand, and recited a pledge to battle corruption.
"This note says, `I am not willing to pay a bribe and I am not alone,'" Anand said. His group hosts a weekly call-in TV show offering advice on dealing with bribe demands.
Anand decided to make the zero-rupee note Fifth Pillar's hallmark.
Ramalingam, the motorist, is glad he did.
"It lifted my spirits," Ramalingam said, recalling how he felt as the police officer left his car. "He might have looked at the note and saw the caption and thought, 'This guy is going to get me in trouble.' ... We need to get everyone with these notes in their cars. Then maybe we have no more bribes."
Once he pulled over, an officer walked to Ramalingam's car and settled into the front passenger seat. He was ready to talk business.
For 400 rupees ($9 Canadian), the officer said, he would let Ramalingam go with no ticket.
Ramalingam handed over a slip of paper that looked like oversized currency.
The purple "zero rupee" bill features a photo of Mahatma Gandhi, who also graces real Indian bank bills, as well as a similar typeface. It reads: "Eliminate corruption at all levels ... I promise to neither accept nor give bribe."
The officer refused to accept the bill. Without a word, he left the car and drove off.
Stories like Ramalingam's are common in this country. Even as India asserts itself as a global power, many residents have felt the sting of government corruption.
In its 2009 corruption perception index, the watchdog group Transparency International ranked India 84th out of 180 countries.
The advocacy group said too many parliamentarians – at least nine federal ministers in 2008 – were allowed to continue in their posts despite having criminal records.
Critics also charge India's Central Bureau of Investigation is poorly trained to ferret out large-scale corruption and is disinclined to pursue small-scale crimes.
The CBI, responsible for investigating corruption allegations in this country of 1.1 billion, has 5,000 agents. Canada's RCMP, by contrast, has 19,000 sworn officers.
Even so, here in Chennai, some residents are battling corruption with noteworthy results.
Thanks in part to a non-government group called Fifth Pillar – also responsible for printing and distributing about a million zero rupee notes – corrupt officials have been jailed or fired and ill-gotten properties have been seized.
A key tool, activists say, is making people aware of their rights and teaching them how to use India's powerful Right To Information Act.
Passed in 2005, the act puts to shame Canada's Access to Information legislation. It gives citizens the right to demand timely answers of public officials; if the requests are ignored for more than 60 days, personal fines to government employees can run as high as 250,000 rupees ($5,700).
"This act is becoming a more powerful weapon with every passing day," said New Delhi-based business consultant Sudershan Banerjee.
He cited a recent case where, "for the cost of a piece of paper and a 10-rupee stamp, the entire Indian Supreme Court judiciary had to publicly declare their assets."
One recent weekday morning, Fifth Pillar founder Vijay Anand ambled into a classroom at Chennai's Queen Mary's College For Women to discuss the ways Indians can fight corruption.
Getting his message out to students is critical, said Anand, 40. While many middle-aged and elderly Indians are cynical after growing up in a culture where bribes were required even for the installation of a home phone, young people are easier to convince of the evils of corruption, he said.
And there's no shortage of youth. About 54 per cent of India's population is younger than 25.
For an hour, Anand discussed corruption in India and his audience – 38 young women – was riveted. Anand spoke about the deadly 2004 tsunami that killed more than 225,000 people across Southeast Asia.
"Japan has a tsunami every six or seven years," Anand said, "but there's a early-warning system in place to give people time to escape to safety."
Many students nodded agreement when Anand blamed the absence of a comparable system in India on corruption.
"Our country is sick with corruption," 19-year-old Raia Lakshmi said later. Lakshmi was forced to pay a bribe of 250 rupees for a document proving her family belonged to one of India's lowest castes, needed for her college applications under the country's reserved-admission system.
Anand explained how some Chennai residents use the RTI Act.
He spoke of one who – after months of frustration – filed an RTI request asking which government employee was responsible for distributing ration cards, which give residents the right to purchase subsidized goods such as rice and cooking oil.
She had her ration card within 72 hours.
"These corrupt officials want this all hush-hush," Anand said. "They want to go into their cocoon and the RTI doesn't allow them to do that."
Later, the students stood, zero-rupee notes in hand, and recited a pledge to battle corruption.
"This note says, `I am not willing to pay a bribe and I am not alone,'" Anand said. His group hosts a weekly call-in TV show offering advice on dealing with bribe demands.
Anand decided to make the zero-rupee note Fifth Pillar's hallmark.
Ramalingam, the motorist, is glad he did.
"It lifted my spirits," Ramalingam said, recalling how he felt as the police officer left his car. "He might have looked at the note and saw the caption and thought, 'This guy is going to get me in trouble.' ... We need to get everyone with these notes in their cars. Then maybe we have no more bribes."
