It will take a long time.

The BJP government in Delhi is not going to be popular with civil servants or politicians. Civil servants have been asked to declare foreign bank accounts, cash, local bank accounts, as well as expensive furniture and art collections. However, this alone will not be enough. No one has accused our civil servants of being stupid, especially when it comes to filling their pockets. Even ordinary furniture may have hollow legs filled with gold biscuits and properties maybe registered in different names. Politicians may change with every election, which is why they are referred to as ' aya Ram, gaya Ram ', but civil servants are permanent which means that they are impossible to dislodge. All these years the CBI had to take permission to even investigate a senior civil servant but in May the Supreme Court struck down that provision. Even so it is almost impossible to catch one of these fellows because they know how the system operates and vital files have a habit of catching fire if the heat is getting too close. How badly the civil service is worm-infested was vividly illustrated when UP police filed First Information Reports against 5,000 people in the food distribution scam. The system works as a chain, with money going all the way up to the minister. If one officer is honest the chain is broken and he is punished by repeated transfers to obscure departments. When a new government comes in after an election it transfers all the officials of the old government. This is to bring in officials loyal to the elected party, who can advise on how to game the system, and to prevent information of illicit activities being conveyed to the previous regime who may use it to embarrass the incumbents. Major scams, involving trillions of rupees, would be impossible without the extensive knowledge and cooperation of bureaucrats. The present government also wants the details of Aadhar, which is a biometric card with personal details, to be included in every civil servant's file. Apparently this will help in keeping an eye on the efficiency of each individual civil servant. In fact, every civil servant must be paid his salary only to his Aadhar account. At one stroke this will eliminate all the ghost officials that plague state governments and, especially, municipalities. Ghost officials are those who draw salaries but do not exist. The money is withdrawn by someone masquerading as an employee and then divided among higher officers, union fellows and local politicians. To really rid the nation of corruption campaign finance has to be reformed, every political party must have to reveal detailed accounts of donations and not one person with criminal charges must be allowed to stand for election. There is a long way to go.