Indian taxpayers received a stark reminder about the costs of official corruption last November when a report by the government's Controller and Advocate General estimated that public coffers had been fleeced of an estimated $40 billion because of a scam carried out from within the Telecommunications Ministry. On Feb. 2, 2011, Telecommunications Minister A. Raja was arrested for his role in the tainted procedures, which doled out telecommunications licenses at a fraction of their real value.
This scandal and others have since transfixed public debate in India, leading to a popular social movement, in the Gandhian tradition, aimed at ending corruption. But whether this is a transformative movement in Indian life largely depends on the middle class's continued engagement in the issue.
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Other "scam-o-ramas" have erupted across India, fueling the drive for reform. Politicians snapped up bargain apartments intended for war widows in a high rise located on prime real estate in Mumbai; the episode brought down the state's chief minister in November 2010. In a WikiLeaked cable from 2008, a U.S. embassy officer said he had been shown a suitcase full of cash, which an aide to one of India's powerful politicians asserted was how the government planned to win a crucial vote of confidence. And New Delhi's Commonwealth Games in Delhi also featured both financial scams and apparent incompetence by the organizers.
The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report outlining the telecom scam, which provided the basis for the minister's arrest, suggested that India's anti-corruption institutions were trying to respond to the problem. However, they have been hampered by scandals of their own. On March 3, the head of the Central Vigilance Commission -- the official directly charged with preventing corruption -- resigned because his appointment had not followed proper procedures. His resignation -- a major embarrassment for the government and for India's institutions -- came as charges were brought against him in an import scandal.
The government has paid a high price for all these incidents. It was unable to get any legislative business done in the winter session of parliament. During the budget session, it was only able to pass the budget after agreeing to a parliamentary commission to investigate government improprieties.
The scandals went beyond the government. A huge trove of taped conversations involving airline entrepreneur turned lobbyist Niira Radia were released in early 2011. Much of what they reveal is influence-peddling and juicy gossip; how much of it is illegal and how much is exaggeration is unclear. But for a country accustomed to thinking of lobbying as an un-Indian activity, it made shocking reading. Moreover, the people Radia was talking to -- senior journalists and widely respected business figures like Tata chief Ratan Tata -- were caught up in the corruption.
Corruption is hardly unique to India -- and it is not new there. Past cases that have risen to the level of public scandal have generally involved kickbacks or sweetheart deals. What distinguishes the present situation is the confluence of several major scandals at about the same time, creating an atmosphere of sleaze that appears to permeate all aspects of public life in India.
Enter Anna Hazare, an activist from the state of Maharashtra whose title means "big brother," a term of affection and respect. The biography on his web site describes an idealistic young man who enlisted in the army and served for fifteen years. Along the way, he decided that his life's calling would be to improve the living conditions of villagers in his home state. After leaving the army in the mid-1970s, he devoted himself to development work, with a particular focus on water management and social mobilization. In 1991, he began to move beyond village, founding Bhrashtachar Virodhi Jan Aandolan (BVJA), or Public Movement against Corruption. While Hazare's goal was mobilization, it was clear that the man, rather than the institution, was the mobilizing principle. In the last decade, most of his major activities have focused on increasingly political goals, such as anti-corruption initiatives and protest against excessive perks for state legislators.
Hazare plays a role familiar to students of Indian political and social history. In dress, diction and style, he evokes Mahatma Gandhi -- but also more recent social crusaders like Jayaprakash Narayanan, who campaigned against Indira Gandhi's state of emergency in the mid-1970s and then went on to try to hold the government that ousted her to its idealistic election promises.
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