We all complain that corruption is rampant in our country but in our heart it seems we all love to bribe. We feel that bribing a person is the best way to acknowledge that he/she is doing a good job. This attitude is more with people who lived their youth during the 70’s and 80’s when almost everything save breathing and producing babies was under socialist control. Even today there are some avenues where cannot we avoid paying a bribe; we have to fall in line. This blog is not about eradicating corruption but let us at least lessen the scope of corruption wherever possible.

I recently developed a desire to go abroad and hence applied for a passport. A police constable came for the customary check and with his own expectations of a few crunchy notes. He started off in the usual stern note of asking my name, etc, etc. I showed him each and every document proof he asked for. He was tiring but did not budge and started appreciating my house, the interiors, etc. I kept conversing with him and offered him a tea. After 15 to 20 minutes, he realized that his game was up, got up and left with a sigh. I did not give him even a single pie. My father-in-law (from the good old socialism days) told me it would have been wise if I had bribed him. I replied “let him dare to give an adverse report about me, I will sue him for Rs.10 crores”. As always he left me alone scratching his head. There are two things which citizens applying for passport have to realize, cops are under an obligation to send a report to the MEA within a specific limited period of time and in case, they gave an adverse report, you can always obtain details of the same under the RTI Act and later sue them in the court, if it has been done with malafide intentions. My clearance report was sent well within the required period of time. I do acknowledge there may be times when we have to bribe the cops but atleast when we have a clean track record, we need not bribe them for a passport enquiry.

The passport tussle does not end here. My passport was returned undelivered because the postman could not find the address (funny given that the number of my house is displayed in a foot long name board). New occupants of localities across the great land of Bharath for ages have bribed postman, to ensure that their letters are delivered without fail. I did not comply with this unholy ritual and the union backed postman had his revenge. I would have none of it, went to the postmaster and gave him my piece of mind in writing and oral, on what I thought about his department. Since then the postman knows my address. I did get my passport by writing to the MEA. Again some informed sources told me to adopt the conventional route but I did not budge. MEA has set procedures and unless and until you want to hoodwink the system, there is need for you to adopt the unconventional route. The Government has spent a lot of money, time and effort to streamline procedures in such departments. Let us not mess them up.

Recently I had to transfer the documents of a vehicle in my name.  Mention the name RTO; our people come out with the standard expression “How much bribe I have to pay?” Yes, I do admit that it is nearly impossible to obtain a licence from the RTO without greasing palms, but there are many jobs in RTO which can be got done without paying a bribe. The above mentioned work took me all of 45 minutes and 40 rupees fees, which conventional wisdom said that can only be done by paying a bribe of around R.500.

The most disturbing bribing tendency I have seen in my life is people paying in private hospitals to nursing attendants and ayas. You don’t require paying a bribe in such places and not everybody likes/can afford to pay bribe in a hospital. Just imagine what would happen if the same hospital attendant takes up a job in a Government organization, he would demand bribe as his birthright.   Let us not corrupt atmospheres which are still virgin to corruption.

Let’s give up on baksheesh. Let us understand that it was the 60’s practice of baksheesh in Government Offices which got crystallized to bribes during the heydays of socialism in 70’s and 80’. I am not claiming to be a model citizen who has never paid bribe throughout his life but I definitely avoid paying bribe when all is required is some physical effort on my part. Systems are evolving and soon most forms of bribe may be eliminated. Just don’t talk about corruption, learn how to starve the monster