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Param's write-up Re: fighting political corruption
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Please help make the Manifesto better, or accept it, and propagate it!
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Parameswar has very kindly sent in a detailed note (text below) available
at the IPI publications page as a Word document:
../debate/notes.html
Folks: pl. read Param's views and respond.
At 07:09 PM 7/3/00 -0400, "Komaragiri, Param (Param)** CTR **"
<param@lucent.com> wrote:
> I tried to come up with a write-up per your advise and sorry for the delay.
>Hope I understood correctly what you suggested.Here is the attachment .
>
>Parameswar
>ps: text form is pasted under here.
>
> Political Corruption - How to Fight it
> By
>Parameswar
>
>Our system provides for political corruption the following way.
>1) Remuneration given to elected representatives and even ministers in
>negligible compared to the costs they have to meet by way of election
>campaigning, entertaining guests, taking out tours etc. To meet the
>expenditures one has to find a way out. That also leads to corruption given
>the fact that his remuneration is negligible and there is no mechanism to
>provide uninterrupted flow of funds for one to spend other than party funds
>which are mostly based on extortion.
>2) Though the system in principle provides for honest citizens to
>contest , It does not provide for flow of finances to meet all such
>expenditures. Hence it has become a profession only for affluent who can
>veild enough clout to extract such funds from society by foul means which is
>inturn , 'political corruption'.
> We must account for such expenditure which is inevitable before
>embarking on cornering a politician for his corrupt deeds.
>
>The problem can be fixed rudimentarily in two ways.
>1)By providing a high remuneration in proportion to what he has spent to
>come to elected office and what would be needed to carry out his business
>with out depending on mercy of a God Father of his party.
>2) Or to design a mechanism to enable him gather such funds lawfully.
>
> Proposal in point no.1 above will fail as it does not
>account for expenses of a candidate defeated in election as it pays only
>those elected .Given the fact that no body can be sure of getting elected,
>even in the event of an elected representative getting a good remuneration
>like 5 lacs per annum for example for a Minister, all the contestants who
>spent several lacs and do not gain such huge amounts in return will only
>attempt to recover costs by various un lawful means .
>
> There is no doubt remuneration for elected representative
>must be enhanced at least to the tune of his nearest comparable civil
>service official. But it is reasonable to design a system where one does not
>depend on such huge earnings by way of salary alone. There were successful
>leaders who took a nominal fee of only one rupee even though for political
>stunt and ran the show.That means he is still able to discharge all
>functions simply by party funds, the legitimacy of which is always a
>question being a product of political corruption that has to be 'treated'.
>A leader should be able to gather similar amount of funds by way of campaign
>financing or party donations on his party's name or his own means with our
>resorting to corruption while in office and with out resorting to extortion
>before attempting for the office.
>Hence apart from voluntary donations subject to a limit It can be
>contemplated to gather such funds under law by way of Legalizing Lottery
>earnings for elections which can be designed according to principles
>underlaid here in point no.3.
>
> First of all let us not be carried away by the sentiment of
>lottery visa vis gambling.The lottery here is designed to serve a noble
>purpose to serve the function of corruption free elections in a large
>democracy like ours.It is a necessary evil , if at all it is one, and better
>than current vicious cycle of political corruption.When people understand
>the purpose, they will cooperate. Rather they will participate
>enthusiastically . As it is once in an election term, not an every month
>affair, it can be safely presumed that poor man does not squander all his
>hard earned money for such lottery which is also one valid apprehension.
> Basically the philosophy for lottery financed campaign
>funding is fueled by following argument : In the conventional system now,as
>an individual citizen , I get irked if am demanded or asked for party fund.
>If I am a businessman, I would not donate 50,000 Rs to a party with a smile
>in heart unless I expect an out of way favour ! But with lotteries, with
>full knowledge about the purpose I may prefer to spend 30 Rs and buy all
>three different party lottery tickets and read their agenda printed on it !
>Parties may also chose to mention on each lottery ticket that this
>percentage of the ticket money goes to so and so 'Charity' or a 'Noble'
>cause, depending on their choice and taste . This adds dignity to the entire
>operation and relieves any gambling stigma !. All figures will be in media
>each time including the amount received by charity recipients. This also
>entails in healthy competition for good deeds and Candidates can spend with
>out a doubt about black money white money etc. It also promotes inner party
>democracy because cadre doesn't depend any more on Godfathers' pockets .
>
>3) Modus Operandi of Lottery financing for election (a general overview) :
>
> Each candidate will be allowed to float a lottery under party's
>name or his election symbol if he is independent, subject to a lottery
>amount of not more than for example 15 lacs for parliamentary constituency ,
>not more than for example 5 lacs for an assembly constituency.
>---It is always a 'Candidate Centered lottery' meant for election funds and
>'his' career expenses. He should not depend in principle on party funds
>alone for all his functions. Once it is legalized, such lotteries are
>subject normal auditing.
>---Presuming that a representative needs atleast 5 lacs per annum in his
>term to function in his elected post with ease, and spends about 5 lacs for
>campaigning alone, all together he should be allowed to gather 6 times the
>lottery amount to be kept for himself when the lottery amount is 5 lacs in
>assembly campaign . This ceiling is to ensure out of way greed on part of
>public or the politician .(Figures are speculative.But the principle is
>important here).
>---- To avoid the person becoming greedy and keep all the funds to him self
>and all possible crimes, it can be contemplated to be kept under common
>account under statutory audit, a joint account held by Govt authority and
>the candidate with with-drawing authority only for candidate (politician
>here) subject to such "conditions" that only a certain percentage has to be
>spent per month, after getting elected , and whether spent or not, the fund
>shall be routed to PM disaster relief fund or some thing similar after
>"every year" automatically, but in no case shall that facilitate him to
>encash as future reserves for his personal accounts !
>---- To facilitate some degree of freedom, donation funds subject to a limit
>can still be allowed , which are under control of his party treasury, but
>lottery funds shall be separately subjected to such control described in
>above point .
>-----Donations may not reflect in individual's lottery collection, they are
>subject to current rules and regulations but lottery earnings are.
>----A party can float a lottery for its candidate but party shall not be
>allowed to take out state wide lottery on large scale, seducing public for
>very huge funds like crores !.It should always be Candidate-Centered
>whether he wins or not.
>----A winning candidate shall spend every month out of such funds every year
>before the funds go lapsed and go in to PM relief fund.His spending shall be
>always by way of giving checks for donations whether it is to various youth
>organisations or associations and shall always be by way of check and
>receipt which determines limited freedom for him to siphon all the money in
>to his pocket.But at the same time considerable leverage can be provided for
>petty cash expenses just like one sees such leverage in case of a senior
>Govt Official or a corporate executive while on tour , instead of picking on
>each and every 100 Rs bill. This entails in controlling and at the same time
>not suffocating the leader. And the expenses are always posted in press or
>similar publicized forum, may be internet, allowing a cushion of 10,000 Rs
>for example for trivial expenses.The most important point of entire
>mechanism is that the figures will be open to public through press and
>internet , in order to avoid an apprehension in public mind that this is yet
>another means devised by some body to stuff politicians' pockets. Ofcourse a
>pilot project is a must to openly evaluate the out come of such experiment
>and publicize all the results .
>----A losing candidate shall claim all his election expenses from the
>lottery funds by showing election expenses to Govt official as well as to
>public through press or some such open forum . This again can hold some
>leverages to petty cash expenses which need not show receipts.As it is open
>to press, even though it is not an important news item, the very fact that
>press shall be inpicture ensures there is no fraud either from Govt Official
>involved who sanctions it or the leader who lost the seat . All this
>ofcourse after giving the lottery amount to lottery winner . These funds are
>always reimbursing type, so that the leader always spends in a calculative
>way based on sale of tickets.
>--- A lottery ticket can claim certain percentage of funds flow to certain
>charities or good causes, may be boast the moral image of leader or that of
>lottery it self.
>---- To eliminate too many Independent candidates coming in to fore in view
>of this facility,
>they can be limited to few candidates on first come first served basis, to
>the capacity of ballet paper stipulated by election commission .Ofcourse all
>major political parties will be allowed to take out their candidate centered
>lottery subject to all these stipulations.
>----The entire process shall be publicised so that people will get to know
>how funds are gathered and spent before and after election .
>----Lottery ticket price can be about 5 Rs or 10 Rs and their number to be
>printed shall be based on taking in to consideration other related figures -
>population, howmany times the amount goes to candidate account etc .
>----Number of tickets printed also shall be determined based on such
>figures.The very fact that the way funds are spent is publicized before and
>after election, even during the tenure of leader holding the office will
>enthuse public to take part in it actively.Of course it is lottery. Election
>Lottery ! Common knowledge prompts me to think every body will participate !
>I repeat, as it comes once in few years, this system is not going to rob the
>poor man of his hard earned money, atleast not more than current other
>lotteries and cheap arrack. For middle class, it is just a movie ticket to
>buy all five or six lottery tickets !
>----In the event of death of a Candidate before election , the funds shall
>be directed to PM relief fund after paying lottery prize to winner, and
>reimbursing the expenditure till date, to the nearest kin of candidate who
>has been his nominee just like in a bank account. In case of a winning
>candidate's death, all the balance funds should go to PM relief fund(He
>already got his election expenses reimbursed).
>
>Actual Lottery figures and modalities can best be formalised by those at the
>helm of affairs once it is agreed in principle . Too heavy prize amount
>shall not be allowed to avoid too much greed on part of buyer or candidate
>for election .
>
>Looking from a voter's perspective, as voter I will be happy to see that a
>part of my money goes to a noble cause like red cross, cry, armed forces
>relief fund any thing that is in the ticket even if I do not win the
>lottery (if it is envisaged).
>4) Apart from lottery earnings it can also be envisaged to collect funds
>through organising food camps where mirchi, singada, chats will be sold by
>party volunteers for fund collection, and system should facilitate such
>funds also to be pointed to same election fund governing lottery funds
>stipulated in point no.3 if the candidate chooses so. Again all figures
>open.This will sanctify the entire election funding mechanism.
>
>Despite all this one can say a politician can still be corrupt.But that is
>for our conventional systems like Lok Ayukta to take care of. The attempt
>here is only to 'remove' gray areas of politicians commonly known expenses
>for which there has been no answer than bribery ,extortion, and goondaism.
>
>The only alternative to this appears to me is
>* Current system as it is which is ridden in vicious cycle of
>political corruption .
>* Pure voluntary participation of business groups with out any
>pressure and pure sacrifice of leaders coming to serve country, and pure
>Volunteers as cadets who want to spend their time and energies for their
>leaders during campaign, all of which seems too unrealistic.
>
>Finally to repeat, an elected representative's salary or remuneration also
>should be enhanced to the tune of atleast he draws equal to his parallel
>Civil Service Official till his term.That income is his income subject to
>normal taxing, but is not subjected to thorough scrutiny as against
>campaign lottery funds thus earned from point 3&4.
>
>
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