We are not all corrupt, just trying to survive.

In the list of countries based on the ease of doing business in 2013 the World Bank puts India at 134 position, down from 131 in 2012. In an article one NK Singh, a former member of the Rajya Sabha has good advice for the new government which will be sworn in after 16 May on how to increase the ease of doing business in India. Although his advice is sound he completely ignores perhaps the most important problem faced by businesses in India. Which is corruption. Politicians and civil servants have no interest in changing the system which has been so lucrative for them over the years. They can never be held to account because they control the investigative agencies, such as the CBI, as was so beautifully demonstrated in the Bofors scam. According to Sten Lindstrom, former Head of Swedish Police Ottavio Quattrocchi definitely took bribes but no one in India was interested in convicting him because of his friendship with The Family. However, if you dare to protest against the criminal actions of the government false cases are slapped against you and you are accused of sedition. While the government wastes trillions of rupees on social schemes to win votes it is niggardly in appointing judges so more than 30 million cases are pending in our courts. A promise of juicy sinecures to senior judges can prolong a criminal case for decades giving the culprit every chance to die of old age. Why a case can be resolved in a ' fast track court ' and not in an ordinary one is a mystery. People mock the system as ' tareekh pe tareekh ' which translates to ' date after date ', reflecting how judges and lawyers agree to keep postponing hearings indefinitely. Politicians accused of crime can be protected by being appointed governor of some state. Apparently a governor cannot be arrested or tried in court. The people of India are tired of corruption. No official work can be done without having to pay bribes. But we are helpless. Politicians of all parties are similar and the poor vote for whichever party that promises the largest numbers of freebies. Then there are those who protect politicians by passing the guilt on to the people. Does that mean that there is something so rotten in our genes that we Indians are incapable of being honest and that we are an inferior species compared to the Danes or the Norwegians? Scary thought. Perhaps the system is so hostile that every Indian grows up to fight for her self interest whatever the cost to society. Like dogs in a garbage bin we fight to survive. After 66 years of independence.