Through the use of mass media and lectures in schools and colleges and at other public forums, we will launch a mass movement for informing, educating and moulding public opinion to abide by the law and to say ‘NO’ to the demands of bribes. Our slogan will say this in Hindi, “Qanoon se ham chalenge, rishvat kabhi nahin denge!” In fact, if people act according to the law and meticulously follow the rules they would eliminate quite a few opportunities for corruption by public officials.
As the first step in this direction, we will form a Core Group of eight to ten persons of unimpeachable integrity, indomitable courage and total commitment to the cause of establishing the rule of law and combating corruption. All members of the Core Group will be residents of the National Capital Region, and no two of them will be related to each other even distantly, by blood or through marriage. At the time of forming the Group and then every year they will have to submit to the Group a detailed statement of their assets and liabilities and a broad one of the last year’s income and expenditure. To ensure the highest level of probity each member of the Group will have to be always open to peer-level scrutiny. Each member will contribute every year to the Group’s finances 1% of his or her total annual income, including that not taxable, less income tax paid, with a minimum of Rs.3,000 and maximum of Rs.10,000. All contributions to the Group, either by the members or the others, will have to be by way of cheques or bank transfers giving particulars like the payers’ PANs, addresses and phone numbers.
Besides setting in motion the above mass movement the Core Group will also identify and support honest government officials and encourage them to resist, oppose and expose wrongdoings of their peers and seniors and curb those of their juniors. Further, it will intervene in a few high profile cases on behalf of victims of official high-handedness and gross injustice. Success in these cases will win many supporters to the Group and its methodology to fight corruption. After some experience in the field, we will contact like-minded people in other towns and cities and help them in forming groups of their own to carry out the fight to stomp on public officials’ malfeasance. In addition, we will buoy up the efforts of many groups and non-government organisations in the country that are working meaningfully on simplifying laws, the government’s duty to inform on all its works and contracts, better and more comprehensive e-governance, people’s oversight of government schools, primary health centres and public distribution system and many other issues having a direct bearing on reducing the opportunities for corruption.
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