Advanced Technology Can Be A Strategic Component In The Fight Against Corruption
Som Karamchetty [1]
Abstract
In nature as well as in the built environment, a certain degree of friction, inefficiency, and imperfection are inevitable and are tolerated. Viewed in such philosophical terms, corruption can and must be tolerated in small doses. On the other hand, when the malady of corruption overwhelms a nation and a society, like a cancerous virus, it is disastrous. But, then, what is a tolerable level and what is a poisonous degree of corruption? In an attempt to answer such fundamental questions, we have to examine corruption anatomically and then find ways to eradicate its various forms. During such an analysis, we realize that we generally assign all the blame to the corrupt official, whereas, there is a second party that benefits from corruption; perhaps, more than the official. In this article, I present new ways of looking at corrupt transactions and discerning the components in a corrupt transaction. With this approach, we will discover that there are three property rights that people have. They are the right to information, the right to opportunity, and the right to property. In an honest and integral process, these property rights are protected; whereas these rights are violated in a corrupt transaction by an agent and a usurper. Since a corrupt transaction involves the stealing of property rights, the corrupt actors should be punished like common criminals. Unfortunately, the corrupt officials and operators are not prosecuted with any zeal as there are too many people involved.
Discussing corruption at the macro-level, though necessary, only illuminates the problem but provides no clues to solve the malady. Therefore, measuring the degree of corruption at the macro level should not be the major goal in designing transaction processes. I argue in this paper that deployment of technology at the transaction level will eliminate opportunities for corruption by leaders, officers, and operators. The strategy for controlling corruption starts with instilling values, followed by laws, policies, regulations, and processes that encourage honest and integral transactions and banish corrupt actions. Leaders and managers have to take the lead in building and running honest processes.
Advanced technology will enable us to protect consumers’ property rights. With the application of advanced technology, we can monitor and develop reports on the system in real time. Cost benefit analysis will show where we should invest in technology to eradicate corruption. We may prescribe nuisance levels and decide to tolerate such corrupt actions and hope that the values based environment will lead us to zero-level corruption. Just as we do with disease epidemics, we have to isolate mechanisms that spread corruption and the culture of corruption. By monitoring and controlling corruption at the highest levels (the political level), and at the lowest levels (consumer interactions) we can control both the intensity and the extensiveness of corruption.
Technology can
make officials apprehensive that technology will expose them if they resort to
corrupt practices. I will discuss a variety of technologies that can be applied
to transactions in various sectors and their respective customers. By making
judicious investments in advanced technology to transactions,
Introduction
Chandan Mitra’s last chapter is aptly titled, “Is There a Way Ahead?” [2] “Hopefully, there is a way out of corruption’s labyrinthine maze which is only waiting to be discovered.” Mitra prescribes, “… one specific area is identified and targeted in the battle against corruption instead of impotently fulminating against the phenomenon in very general terms.” He goes on, “One way is to target petty corruption first and undertake a mass awareness and resistance campaign to expose and punish members of the corrupt babucracy (junior officials like petty clerks) with whom the general public is compelled to interact on day-to-day issues (they include the greedy constable, the rapacious municipality clerk, the wily ticket examiner on a railway train or a transparently corrupt income tax officer).” Mitra adds, “The other way is to target corruption at the top of the socio-political order by mounting a crusade against the politicians and by extension, bureaucrats and dishonest businessmen.” He opines that the second avenue is the only one that can hope to show early and visible results.
Considering that advanced
technologies with excellent capabilities are either available or emerging now,
I strongly believe that Mitra would have concluded that we can attack
corruption at all levels concurrently. In the following sections, I plan to
explain the state of corruption in
State of
“
Mitra claims, “Yet, it was Nehru who presided over the erection of a corrupt scaffolding in which public funds were diverted to assist dishonest businessmen.” [5] According to Mitra, “such diversions were usually made as a gesture of gratitude for their contributions to party funds.” Mitra’s discussion of the Mundra deal is worth summarizing as it gives interesting basis for our analysis.
Here is a case of political corruption. The Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) invested nearly Rs 12 million “towards buying shares of various companies by Haridas Mundhra.” “LIC’s two basic goals were the promotion of policy holders’ interest and national development.” “LIC’s investment committee was kept in the dark about most of the big purchases.” “Mundra had donated Rs 150,000, a large sum by contemporary standards, to the UP Congress party and a further Rs 100,000 to the All-India Congress Committee.” Mitra [6] describes, “The security scandal, a gigantic scam perpetrated on the Indian banking system by a coterie of unscrupulous brokers, rapacious or incompetent officials of various public sector undertakings, financial institutions and leading national banks including the country’s central bank and manipulative chieftains of foreign banks operating in India, has left behind a debilitating trail.”
The Mundra episode showed that there was a set of administrators who were vested with the authority to invest LIC funds. The LIC had certain procedures, policies, and regulations for investment decision making. The administrators failed to protect the basic goals and flouted the policies. But that by itself is not likely to be considered corruption. They made the investments for an extraneous consideration, which consisted in monies paid by Mundra to the Congress committees. Ordinarily a financial donation from a private citizen (an industrialist) is neither criminal nor illegal. But the quid pro quo and the correlation of the actions makes the episode a corrupt one. Chandan Mitra laments, “In effect, the gigantic securities scam has been categorized as an aberration with almost all the parties involved getting away with it.” [7]
Mitra [8]
states, “With the growth of Indian industry and its perennial need for funds,
these institutions [government financial institutions] have acquired the
largest block of shares in most major private sector companies and can use
their clout at the behest of ruling party politicians. This being the pattern
of industrial ownership in
Mitra’s arguments lead us to deduce that as governments have wide latitude in defining their mission and goals, their actions and interactions should be observable, measurable, and certainly open to public scrutiny. This measurement, scrutiny, and accountability are possible by setting up public databases of political contributions in cash and kind on the one hand and the exchanges and interactions between politicians and lobbyists on the other. Accounts of political parties and politicians should be computerized and be made available to public in real time. I will discuss these modalities, methods, and necessary technologies later.
Mitra’s descriptions of the influence of the relatives of politicians give us an interesting perspective. Mitra [9] says, “It is sometimes difficult to draw the line between a politician furthering his own business interests using relatives as a decoy and relatives pressuring a politician into facilitating their independent ventures.” This point alerts us to look at corruption not just as a point source but as a sphere of influence [10] for, on behalf of, and/or in the name of a political leader. Mitra [11] claims, “Indian politicians have ceased to even be squeamish when facing the charge of misusing their position to benefit their children and other relatives.”
According to
Mitra, “corruption in
Arun Kumar discusses
the Black Economy in
Of the various activities described by Arun Kumar, some can be classified as corruption while others are pure thievery, fraud, and embezzlement. A sample listing of these activities is given below. [13]
· Under-invoiced inventories including cash holdings
· Over-invoiced and under-invoiced plant and equipment
· Informal sector activities, such as trade, films, production
· Illegal holdings of precious metals, gems, and jewelry
· Flight of capital for investments abroad
· Transfer activities and buying of influence (bribes for legal or illegal work)
· Illegal activities (like smuggling, drugs, prostitution, and crime).
Arun Kumar’s arguments have strong relevance to any analysis of corruption since the black economy thrives on corruption.
Vinod Pavarala [14] focused “on the dynamics of the problem [of corruption] ¾ how it is socially constructed by different elite groups with varied stakes in the system ¾ and on the politics of corruption and anti-corruption.” “Groups with conflicting interests and stakes in the system have varied perspectives on the nature of the problem and compete with one another to impose their particular constructions and influence the public discourse on the subject,” Pavarala states.
Examples of corrupt acts cited by judges and journalists included [15]
· Bribery
· Nepotism or favoritism
· Misappropriation of public resources
· Gift-giving
· Cheating, fraud, dishonesty
· Embezzlement
· Kickbacks and commissions
· Intellectual corruption
· Corruption of the soul.
Pavarala concludes, “… there is no unanimity among key elites about what constitutes the problem of corruption, or about its causes, consequences, and solutions.”
International
Situation on Corruption
Corruption is not a uniquely Indian phenomenon and the World Bank has been sponsoring programs worldwide as it has recognized the importance of anti-corruption measures for economic development. Corruption sabotages policies and programs that aim to reduce poverty, so attacking corruption is critical to the achievement of the Bank's overarching mission of poverty reduction. The Bank has identified “corruption as the single greatest obstacle to economic and social development. It undermines development by distorting the rule of law and weakening the institutional foundation on which economic growth depends.”
The harmful effects of corruption are especially severe on the poor, who are hardest hit by economic decline, are most reliant on the provision of public services, and are least capable of paying the extra costs associated with bribery, fraud, and the misappropriation of economic privileges. [16] Corruption sabotages policies and programs that aim to reduce poverty, so attacking corruption is critical to the achievement of the Bank's overarching mission of poverty reduction. The Bank’s Public Sector Governance thematic groups on corruption believe that an effective anticorruption strategy builds on five key elements:
· Increasing Political Accountability
· Strengthening Civil Society Participation
· Creating a Competitive Private Sector
· Institutional Restraints on Power
· Improving Public Sector Management.
Stephen J. H. Dearden pointed out that corruption was usually defined as "the abuse of public office for private gain." This definition has been widened recently, as attention has turned to corruption within the private sector, to cover "giving or receiving undue advantage in the course of business activities leading to acts in breach of a person's duties." [17] However it can be argued that the role of the public sector is more significant, since it is here that the opportunities for corruption are most extensive and the public administration creates the opportunities for corruption in the private sector by creating the necessary institutional and market conditions. In both cases corruption can be viewed as an example of the Principal-Agent problem, where the core difficulty lies in the mechanism to monitor the actions of those to whom authority is delegated but where the information is possessed asymmetrically by the agent. [18]
So far the most significant international agreement addressing the problem of corruption has been that of the OECD "Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions." [19] This was adopted in November 1997 and came into force in February 1999. So far 17 countries, including seven within the European Union (EU), have ratified the Convention which requires the signatories to make it a criminal offence to offer bribes in order to obtain a business advantage. [20] It also encourages States to end the ability of firms to treat bribe payments as business costs that are tax deductible. The success of these measures is being monitored by an OECD Working Group on Bribery in International Business Transactions. [21]
For progress to be made, political commitment to "good governance" within the developing countries is crucial. This will ensure that the elements necessary for what Transparency International has termed a "National Integrity System" can be put in place. These elements include an independent judiciary, political pluralism with an accompanying effective opposition, appropriate anti-corruption legislation, effective monitoring and auditing systems (including para-legal independent inspectorates and administrative commissioners), structures to ensure integrity in the awarding of public contracts, the encouragement of the monitoring role of civil society through the establishment of an independent press, and the "declaration of interests" by both politicians and civil servants. [22]
Transparency International (TI) Source Book 2000 [23] discussed The Anatomy of Corruption. According to TI, the areas of government activity most vulnerable to corruption were public procurement, rezoning of land, revenue collection, government appointments, and local government. According to TI, the methodologies used by corrupt officials for private gain were cronyism, connections, family members and relatives, political corruption through donations to political campaigns, etc., kickbacks on government contracts (and subcontracting consultancies), and fraud of all kinds.
I believe that the discussion presented so far has given the reader a clear idea of transactions that are amenable to corruption. As I present a detailed analysis of these transactions in later sections, we can identify technologies that will counter corrupt actions by politicians, officials, and operators.
Berg Erland [24] studied corruption and proposed a measure. He suggests that corruption indicators should instead be based on polls measuring the subjective experience of respondents. Also, they should be measured in precise units. As an example of such a quantity, he calls the bribe ratio, the ratio of the value of bribes paid to total income. Measures suggested by Erland and others like him are useful for national level assessments. As I will demonstrate in later sections, measures are extremely beneficial only when they are defined at the component level, where action takes place, transactions happen, bribes are given, and corruption occurs. Just as grease is applied to the meshing gears in order to reduce frictional losses in machines, we have to get down to the mating points of transactions with our grease guns in order to combat corruption. On the contrary, spraying a jet of lubricant on the system as a whole does no good! It only messes up the works!
In analyzing corrupt
transactions, we need to also understand who the corruptors, collaborators, and
victims are. Mathieu Deflem provided a good description on
victim and corruptors. [25]
·
Corruption
is the result of the voluntary collaboration between two (or more) actors;
·
Corruption
is voluntarily initiated by one (or more) corruptors, to which one (or more)
corruptees [sic] are involuntarily subjected; and
·
Corruption
as the result of institutionally determined pressures and opportunities.
Proposed Approach to
Analyzing and Attacking Corruption
A serious flaw
with contemporary discussion on corruption in the third world societies is that
it encompasses a conglomeration of evil and illegal activities. Such a
collection makes it hard to prescribe a cure. Furthermore, it leads to a
helpless attitude in people and they give up in disgust. The average citizen
concludes that everybody does it and therefore it must not be wrong. With such
rationalization, in modern
When corruption is so rampant, as I described in earlier sections, the citizens might assume that it is as inevitable as friction in machines, husk on grains, thorns on flower bushes, and pits in fruits. It is therefore extremely important to analyze corrupt practices to show what fundamental societal values are being eroded in the process and to prescribe concrete measures to counter this alarming problem of corruption.
In a nation like
Mere measurement of corruption or the quality of transactions is neither sufficient nor essential, as we learned from the manufacturing field. Just a decade or two ago, quality control of products was based on inspection and measurement of components as they rolled off the manufacturing line. But, the idea of inspecting after the product has been made is proven to be cost ineffective. The current practice is “building quality in the product design” [26] [27] to improve the process as the product is being made so that the defective components are minimized or eliminated completely. I propose that we use a similar real time transaction process improvement in order to combat corruption. I will explain this approach in a later section dealing with advanced technology.
In this approach, I propose to identify the essentials of a transaction and automate the process or the recording of the transactional details so that an audit trail is available instantly to deter corruption. While measurement and recording functions can be entrusted to technology, there are three other functions that are essential to the success of this approach. First is to inculcate values in the citizenry. The second is leadership and the third is laws that promote honest transactions and punish the guilty who stoop to corrupt practices.
Examining a Spectrum
of Corrupt Transactions
I plan to provide several examples of transactions which offer good opportunities for corruption. From these examples, I will proceed to define the characteristics of a transaction.
A vote seeker bribes a voter who accepts money for his vote because he is so poor that he values money more than the right to vote. [28] Society has to come to grips with uses and misuses of rights, responsibilities, and privileges. If a citizen abuses his or her responsibility to vote and instead barters it for cash or kind, he or she should be deprived of the right to vote. If a politician partakes in the abuse of a citizen’s voting rights, he or she should be debarred from political or public office. The politician is actually instigating an illegal act of stealing and then buying stolen property right. Both the voter and the instigator of corruption should be liable to expeditious criminal convictions.
In order to reinforce the notion of property rights and to illustrate the generic nature of the characteristics, I will next present different examples. A businessman applies for a license [29] to set up a steel mill in a state. Ordinarily, a senior administrator, such as a secretary, scrutinizes applications and disposes of such cases. But, let us assume that the minister for industrial development intervenes. Neither did the businessman applicant contribute to the minister’s party in the last elections nor does he plan on providing any financial support to the minister’s party in future elections. Unfortunately, the businessman’s application for a license will be rejected. People and news media categorize this as a case of political corruption. The minister and the secretary have a responsibility to the citizens of the country to issue licenses to applicants with deserving proposals. Following the submission of a worthy proposal, a businessman develops a right to a license. If the businessman gets a license, he gains a property right in an industry and a business. Lacking a license, he does not realize that property right. By denying him that right unjustly and arbitrarily, the minister nixed the businessman’s opportunity to start and run a business and possibly make money. The minister has failed in his duty to the people, on whose behalf he participates in the government. If the minister subsequently grants a license to set up a steel mill in the state to another applicant, the minister is really selling stolen property. Knowingly or unknowingly, the new applicant buys stolen property. The minister may take cash for self or for the party or other consideration (from the first applicant or a subsequent applicant) as a price for issuing a license. Or he may have the businessman offer a lucrative position to his son in the steel mill. It matters little what the price is. The fact that a license was denied to a party that gained that property right is a key point worth noting. Henceforth that license is contaminated unless and until the injured party is made whole. These two cases show corruption at the highest places.
Let us construct
another case. The
A heart specialist in a public hospital examines a patient and says that she is a good case for heart surgery. But there is a hitch. There are nine other eligible patients ahead of the instant patient in the line of applicants. Of course, the good doctor will move her up the list of waiting patients if a sum of one hundred thousand rupees is given him in gratuity. This is a case of corruption in the health care system. But once again, there is more involved here. The doctor is playing God and is determining who should receive priority treatment arbitrarily. The doctor is condemning another patient to possible death. Should it not be criminal? Will this amount to murder of some degree? The health care system has a limited capacity and the demand is greater than the supply. Of the critical cases, the principle of service is “first come first served.” A deserving patient who comes first gains a property right, which she is deprived of by a corrupt and criminal doctor in a public hospital. [30] A doctor’s ethical and legal responsibility is to treat the patients in the order consistent with the urgency of the case as dictated by rules of practice and code of conduct.
Are the NGO’s
immune to corruption? Bharat Dogra writes, “Corruption in relief work at the
time of floods, droughts, cyclones, and other disasters is the worst form of
corruption. In some chronically flood-affected areas like
Corruption does not spare even temple lands. [32] Officials, who are expected to protect temple lands, sell them in return for a consideration. In some instances, political leaders sympathize with the buyers claiming that they were the victims. In cases, where the buyers offered consideration to officials, it is the equivalent of buyers dealing in stolen property. They should not evoke any sympathy but be subject to prosecution along with the officials.
Officers abuse their power and authority to discharge entrusted mission, and indulge in corrupt practices. A police officer, who allows a criminal to go scot-free, is violating the trust placed in him and is most likely to be trampling on the citizens’ right to safety. A customs official, who allows the transportation of prohibited goods, may in fact be allowing harmful viruses, arms, or contraband goods to cause harm to citizens.
Defense officials and military officers are entrusted with the responsibility of buying weapon systems to equip soldiers with the best possible systems. If the officers buy the second best systems, while obtaining private gains, it is a clear case of corruption. But, what else is at stake? Soldiers’ lives are placed at unnecessary risk. National security is jeopardized. The supplier of the best equipment has been denied his opportunity to make a sale. That is a financial loss to that company. The second best company is actually guilty of collusion as well as dealing in stolen property ¾ the property being the opportunity to make a sale. If a foreign company is involved in the deal, it may be treated as international transportation of stolen property. The European Union’s policy on trans-national corruption is discussed in a later section.
Corruption touches a person before birth and lingers even after death. A fetus does not know that when her mother seeks help for prenatal care, she encounters corruption at the health center. Where and how the delivery takes place may depend on consideration. A child watches his or her parents encounter corrupt operators as he or she grows through the school. Adolescents move among relatives and friends and get lessons in the art of corruption, whether it is on the receiving end or on the giving end. They see corruption when they are asked by their parents to pick up a ration card. When the lights go out before examinations, they call the electrician and have a brush with corruption in the service sector. In the middle age, they encounter corruption as they seek jobs. Later in life, old age pension is reduced and delayed by corrupt agents of the government. Finally, when they receive their last rites, they are touched by corruption as those in power violate their rights.
Corruption Leads to
Denial of Rights
One encounters
the most common example of corruption in
Seats in a coach belong to the Department of Railways. There is a policy for allocating seats. Usually, seat allocation is based on the principle of “first come first served.” The Department of Railways gives the mission of allocating seats to its agent, the conductor. A passenger has a right to a reserved seat if there is a vacant or unencumbered seat available at the time of request. In theory, the conductor has only one possible course of action. When a seat is available and if a passenger approaches the conductor with a request for a reserved seat, the conductor has to allot that seat or one of the available seats to the requesting passenger. We must recognize that the passenger develops a property right to an unencumbered seat. Such a right is a transitory right. It depends on the situation and conditions obtaining. Let us delve into the matter some more. Firstly, there is a right to information. At the time he approaches the conductor, a passenger does not necessarily know whether an unencumbered seat is available or not. The fundamental fact is that every passenger has a right to know if there are such seats available. The conductor, as the agent of the Railways, has a duty to provide such information routinely, and especially so, when information is sought by a passenger. A deceitful conductor withholds such information from any and all passengers. The conductor may also give a passenger false information that no unreserved seats are available or that he pretends to not know the situation at that instant. Thus, the conductor commits a gross violation of a passenger’s right to accurate and timely information. He is usurping a passenger’s property right [33] to information. He is also committing a dereliction of duty. Of course, unfortunately, most analysts and most citizens in the third world do not even recognize that people have a right to accurate and timely information. [34]
The first passenger in a line or a queue who approaches a conductor also gains an opportunity right to an unreserved seat. The second gross violation that the conductor in our example commits is that he usurps that property of opportunity from a passenger. Strictly speaking, it is tantamount to stealing property. Just as people have rights to physical and intellectual properties, they have other property rights. One of them is right to information and another is right to an opportunity. In the case described above, since a passenger’s property right is not identified, the act of stealing goes unrecognized. Or else, one would expect the passenger to call the police and have the conductor arrested for stealing. Subsequently, when another passenger shows up with a customary amount of gratuitous money (or other consideration), the conductor allots a seat to that new passenger, who now gains rights to that seat for the duration of his/her journey. The conductor has sold that property right to the new passenger. Let us scrutinize what has just transpired. Stolen property, namely, an unreserved seat, whose rights vested in the first passenger, has since been sold by the conductor to a new passenger. Under criminal law [35] both the seller (the conductor) and the buyer (the second passenger) are guilty of dealing in stolen goods. By ignoring the property rights, society misses an opportunity to prosecute two people involved in an illegal property transaction. We merely call it corruption and dump it in the amorphous bucket called corruption. We fail to recognize the thievery and dealing in stolen property that goes on right in front of our noses. The case of reserving a seat on a train is a simple example. I now urge the learned reader to deduce that the principles involved in this case can be extended to a number of more serious instances of corruption.
I submit a slightly different scenario before going to another topic. Suppose that the conductor did not take money from the second passenger. The second passenger appears with a recommendation (a cell phone call) from a senior administrative officer. Or the second passenger is a relative or a friend of the conductor. Or he is from the same town or state as the conductor. Or he speaks the same language. The analysts will say that there is no bribery involved but it is a case of nepotism, favoritism, cronyism, and so on. The fact that property rights are being violated and stolen is missed in such an academic discussion. It is a case of corruption as there is the presence of a consideration for the selfish interest of the conductor contrary to the declared policies and rules of the mission entrusted to the conductor as an agent by the principal, viz., the Department of Railways.
Corruption is not just between two people ¾ the bribe giver and taker. There is a third party involved. It is essential to realize that the rights of third parties and the society at large are trampled upon as the consequences of corruption.
Corruption is Large Scale
Thievery
Some people
mistakenly attribute corruption in the
As Tavleen Singh writes in
the Indian Express, “Tucked away on an inside page of this newspaper, a couple
of weeks ago, was a news item that I hope caught the attention of the Finance
Minister while he was making our Budget. It was about CBI ‘‘raids’’ on
government officials and said that in a single day Rs 19.35 crore worth of
assets and money were seized that were ‘‘disproportionate’’ to the salaries
these officials received. What was most interesting to me, and I hope the
Finance Minister, was the extraordinary amount of money even our lowly
officials manage to make and what a nationwide phenomenon this has become.” [36]
Tavleen Singh goes on. “In Hyderabad an
Assistant Commissioner of Income Tax, P Ananta Ramulu, was found to have Rs
2.07 crore in various bank accounts whose papers he concealed in clocks,
cupboards and wood panels in the family home. This crorepati began his career
as a stenographer. In Gorakhpur the CBI found a railway medical officer called
Asim Kumar who had Rs 1.58 crore worth of unexplained assets that included a
flat in Delhi and a ‘‘palatial house’’ in Gorakhpur. What would a railway
medical officer make money out of? In
Corrupt practices that are hierarchical are like cancer spreading from an extremity to the brain. If a minister presses for gratuities from his senior administrative officers, they, in turn, expect to be rewarded from lower echelons. This reaches the lowest levels, where thousands of operators fleece the public. In such a system, corrupt practices are justified as being ordered from above, that it is a normal, and that it is not a deviant behavior. It is also possible that corruption starts at the roots. Officials at the middle level have the mission to root out corruption and to discipline the corrupt operators. But, if the midlevel officials condone the practices by taking a share of the considerations from the lower level operators, corruption spreads upwards. In either case, corruption becomes systematic, hierarchical, and cancerous.
Honorable Lucienne Robillard discussed corruption in the private sector.
He said that there has also been a
rapidly growing cynicism towards the private sector as well. Stories of
wrongdoing by Enron, WorldCom, Arthur Andersen, mutual fund managers and
various Wall Street - and
Systematic
Representation of Rights and Their Violations
Let us start with people’s right to information. [39] Information is a property and the possessor of information gains certain advantages. Information can be priced and traded. Information has transient value and time is of essence in such circumstances. Information derives its value based on its use and potential use. Certain information is owned by public officials as guardians of the state, but is not necessarily revealed publicly. Information related to national security, military, commerce, negotiation strategies, and pending actions of government agencies are examples of this kind. There is some information that public has a right to know and know it simultaneously. Once people’s right to information is recognized, those who are generating, revealing, and distributing information have a duty to respect those rights and release the information accordingly, or pay the penalties for usurping, or trading in, or violating those rights.
Rights to opportunity come next. As governments and other organizations develop policies, procedures, and processes, and generate information about them, a variety of opportunities arise. Almost all these opportunities allow people to gain property or protect them from losing property. When a government creates opportunities through its policies and actions, its purposes must be national and local security, national or local development, well-being of people in general or specific groups of people. Therefore, when regulations and procedures are formulated and administered, gains should be available only to those they were intended for. When a deliberate action [40] is taken to divert a gain from an opportunity to a non-targeted person or group, it is a violation of that right to an opportunity.
Once they fulfill a prescribed set of requirements, people in a line acquire certain rights. This follows the principle, “First come, first served.” Unless otherwise disqualified or they voluntarily surrender their rights, people in the line should be presumed to be impending owners of property resulting from their respective positions in the line. An excellent example of this principle is seen in the “bumping” process practiced by US domestic airlines. [41] People with confirmed seats on a particular flight acquire a property right to a seat when they show up at the gate of the airline at the appointed time. Occasionally, the airlines overbook and have to “bump” some passengers with confirmed reservations. The airline asks for volunteers that are willing to surrender their seats in exchange for cash or other material consideration. This is a clear example of recognition of a property right and the US airlines’ willingness to negotiate a price for it. Another interesting aspect of this voluntary surrender of confirmed seats is the order of volunteering. The order in which passengers approach the airline clerks to give up their confirmed seats is once again considered in accepting the voluntarily surrendered seats. In the end, if passengers with previously confirmed seats have to be bumped involuntarily due to overbooking, they are compensated monetarily according to procedures announced before hand.
If this principle
is followed in
Recognizing an Honest
Process and its Corruption
In the examples cited in the previous section, several cases of corruption were described. Readers understand them even before a definition and explanation of corruption is given. Let us first recognize what an integral or honest process is.
During the course of performing a mission entrusted to him or her, an official, as an agent of a principal, deals with people objectively. He or she is expected to perform the mission only on the merits of the case and within the rules, procedures, and processes prescribed for the discharge of the mission. No other considerations enter the agent’s decision-making process. Such an integral and an honest process is an ideal one and can be chosen as a standard against which deviations in performance can be compared.
For example, in the discharge of his responsibilities, an official has to discriminate between people and is likely to come across strangers as well as people with loyalties. The loyalties may be based on village, caste, community, or ethnic group. In an integral discharge of one’s duty, an official becomes indifferent to such loyalties. Such a conduct of a mission can be a standard for comparison. In the evaluation of competing proposals, an official will consider only mission-related factors. This is an honest evaluation process by an officer of integrity.
Now if another official shows favor to his relatives to the detriment of strangers, it is a type of corrupt act. In the performance of an official mission, an official should abstain from any and all personal gains. If he receives any personal gain or favor from a recipient or a third party, it is a form of corruption. Furthermore, if the decision is influenced and altered in favor of a party to the detriment of a deserving party, it is yet another type of corruption.
A simple definition of corruption can now be
stated. Any consideration received by an agent to serve his or her own
self-interest while discharging a transaction assigned by a principal makes the
transaction corrupt.
Modeling Corruption
and Morphological Analysis of Corruption
Based on the
discussion of examples presented so far, a generic model of corrupt
transactions emerges. The following players are usually present in a transaction.
A Principal entrusts an Agent with the discharge of a
There are states of ownership of items of value before and after a transaction. A non-corrupt transaction determines the ownership rights to properties. All parties involved in a transaction (and the society at large) have a right to information about the transaction and I call that the right to information property. Any manipulation by the Agent or accessories is a violation of such property rights. When the violation occurs only due to errors, it becomes an erroneous transaction but not a corrupt transaction. In a high quality system, there should be procedures to prevent errors and to correct the results when errors occur. When a party acts to manipulate the system by introducing a consideration to personally benefit the agent and to alter the property rights in favor of the manipulator, the transaction becomes corrupted. In this discussion, the Agent or Usurper includes their respective spheres of influence also.
Fred Zwicky [43] described
the application of the Morphological approach to a number of problems and
generated solutions. Zwicky’s technique involves the identification of
components involved in a system and exploring alternatives that make up the
components. If a system has m components and each component has n alternatives,
there can be m to the power n ways of configuring the system. In the case of a
system of transactions, as described previously, the components are 1)
Principal, 2) Value, 3) Transaction Rules (or mission, or process, or
procedure), 4) Agent, 5) Rightful Recipients, 6) Usurper, and 7) Consideration.
The component can have a number of alternatives. Such alternatives in the
component Principal can be further divided into Government, Public Sector,
Private sector, Non-government sector (NGO), and Religious sector. Each of these
sectors can be further subdivided. For example, in the Government sector, we
will have Administrative Officers, Mid-level officers, Low-level Bureaucrats,
and finally Lowest-level Operatives. As the Government deals with citizens in
all phases of their lives, from issuing a birth certificate to providing
inoculations, from school admissions to granting college scholarships, from
giving loans to start a business to allotting a plot to build a home, and
ultimately to giving a death certificate, the alternatives for Value items are
numerous. A consideration can be 1) None,
2) Bribery, 3) Nepotism or favoritism, 4) Misappropriation of public resources,
5) Gift-giving, 6) Cheating, fraud, dishonesty, 7) Embezzlement, 8) Kickbacks
and commissions, and 9) Intellectual corruption. We can put together
combinations with these components and alternatives and a large number of cases
of corruption will result. Thus, Zwicky’s Morphological technique allows us to
capture any and all cases of actions into a generic framework using the
components and alternative instances for the components. The advantage of the
Morphological analysis is that it allows us to construct generic models from
specific cases. When we discover generic solutions to generic problems, the
solutions can also be instantiated for a variety of specific situations.
Generic Transactions
Let us examine missions or transactions from the top in the government sector. In a democracy, people elect their representatives and hand them the governance of the nation. The opportunity for corruption starts here. If the electors receive a consideration in exchange for their votes, corruption starts with citizens. Thusly elected members of the elected body (national parliament, state assembly, municipal council, corporation, or panchyat) and a section of the electorate begin the corrupt process. Both the electors and the elected have corrupted the mission, viz., the election of honest representatives. Next, the ministers, and legislators appoint senior administrative officials and entrust them with discharging the functions of the nation, state, or a local jurisdiction. The administrative officers are responsible for myriad operations starting with collecting taxes, through ensuring the security of the country, all the way to spending the tax payer funds. In every transaction, the laws of the nation, the regulations of the ministries, departments, and offices determine how a specific transaction should be carried out. Senior administrators delegate their missions to mid-level officials, who are assisted by lower level officials, and the lowest level operatives in discharging the functions of the nation. There are honest and valid reasons when an official decides to declare the property of a citizen, or a business, or a group as eminent domain and possesses it for national purposes. Similarly, when an official determines a list of legal recipients of government largess, honest and valid reasons subject to the laws, regulations, predetermined policies, and precedents apply. When officials in their capacity as agents of the government (and ultimately, the people) make determinations that are not objective but are influenced by private gains (i.e. considerations), corruption intrudes into the process. This is a cause for grave concern and a subject for serious study.
It will be observed that there are only a small number of operators at the higher levels and consequently, there is likely to be only a few cases of high level corruption but each case might involve huge sums of money or other considerations. In contrast, at the operator level (a traffic policeman giving a speeding ticket, or a food inspector certifying spoilt food as fit for human consumption, or an electric lineman preferring to fix only certain broken wires), there can be billions of cases of petty corruption. The former is like serious cases of cancer while the latter is akin to a continuous wave of common cold and an unyielding virus.
Sometimes, there is hierarchical corruption where every level is involved from top to bottom. A common example is a large scale engineering project where informal formulae have been established for the distribution of consideration among ministers, administrative officers, engineers at various levels, and charge hands at the lowest rungs of the ladder in predetermined proportions. Appropriate strategies and tactics are needed to combat each type of corruption. Just as pumping jets of oil on a manufacturing line will not reduce frictional losses while squirting a few drops of oil on each and every meshing gear will make the system run smoothly and efficiently. Thus in the case of low level corruption, we have to focus on millions of individual and small transactions in order to reduce corruption. We will however examine in the following section if their generic nature will lead to affordable techniques to control transactions, eliminate consideration, and achieve an honest system.
Relevance of Measurements
and Metrics
As we identify a generic system for
transactions with its components and alternate instantiations for the
components, we will be able to look at measurements and metrics. Traditionally,
one would jump to measure the consideration or gratuity that changes hands in a
transaction. But our interest is to minimize and eliminate corruption in the
long run. In general, since a consideration is an off-the-book transaction, it
is not easily measured. Investigators and analysts have been devising indirect
methods of measurement; I will come to this a little later. In our generic
analysis, we have to start by identifying the Principal and the Agent. Usually,
these are people with offices and names. Next we have to recognize the item of
Value or the Property. We have to know the Transaction Rules. Then follow the
aspiring people or organizations that wish to receive the item of value and
their qualifications, characteristics, attributes, and proposals, which enter
them into the evaluation of eligibility and the decision process. Given a
combination of transaction rules and the aspirant qualifications, knowledgeable
people can draw inferences from a set of rules objectively and determine who
the winners will be in an honest process. For this inference to take place, the
information should be readily available. Hence the first measurement is the
timely transparency of transfer rules and player (contender) qualifications.
Returning to the
railway seat reservation example we discussed previously, we will find the
following situation. The first step is to provide information on the
availability of seats to all passengers. This will take away the ability of the
Agent (viz., the conductor) to manipulate the information to his advantage. The
next step is to prepare a list of passengers in line for the available seats.
The “line” need not necessarily be a physical line on the platform or in front
of a coach. It can be a line on the Internet, which we will discuss in a later
section. We take some cues from traditional after the fact inquiries. When a
complaint is made and a commission of inquiry is constituted, the commission investigates
into the interaction between the passengers and the conductor. As we stated
earlier, the drawback with the traditional approach has been that it always
investigated and recorded sequence of events after they had happened. The best
method is to record them as they happen. It means that we record the
interactions as they occur and this forces honesty. It puts people on notice.
It may be noted that in the
There is another important feature that
is important in increasing the efficiency of operations but is always ignored
in
A news report in The Hindu (February 19, 2005) says, “The CBI arrested a Regional Passport Officer for accepting a bribe from a tout to issue passports expeditiously.” [44] If the passport officer has performance standards, which lay down the maximum time he may take to issue a passport and in what order he should process the applications, and if the transactions are conducted via a database, then his chances of corruption are minimized or eliminated.
It is not uncommon to get complaints from consumers sometime after the event has occurred. There may be many reasons for this latency but most likely reason is that weary travelers want to get on with the journey and think of complaining at leisure. Setting up of systems for complaints (and compliments) allows the principal to take action against the agent or redraft the transaction rules to the convenience of passengers.
In order to improve the operation of a system, its variables should be measurable. Therefore, we should ask if we can measure these rights and develop standards for minimum values or metrics for improvement. Let us first consider the information right. As stated earlier, information should be available to all customers clearly, simultaneously, and completely. There should be information about where and when the information is published. Computer systems with time stamps will show when information is published. With the computerization of reservation of seats by Indian Railways, the train conductor’s opportunity to receive consideration has already diminished considerably. Although I cited this example since it is a very common example of corruption to grasp, this is also one where technology has already made inroads successfully.
We may now look at metrics. Again, we take the example of the coach conductor on the train. We may define a Corruption intensity index as follows.
Corruption intensity index (CII) = Consideration /
Transaction fees.
If a conductor takes
Rupees 100, where the transaction fee, which goes to the Railway department, is
Rupees 200, then the CII is 0.5.
We may define a Corruption extent index as
follows.
Corruption extent index (CEI) = Seats with Consideration
/ Total number of Seats.
If conductors take considerations, CEI is
the fraction of seats that were subject to consideration. Ideally, we would
like both CII and CEI to be zero. We may define some targets for these metrics
as follows:
CII <= 0.1% - Low intensity; 0.5% - Mild; >= 100% -
Severe.
CEI <= 0.1% - Small extent; 0.5% - Pervasive; >= 5%
- Rampant.
A metric has to be used in improving the
performance of the system, and agents. When the CII and CEI are both zero, it
should be cause to provide performance bonuses to Agents (i.e. conductors in
this example). When these indexes get higher in intensity and extent, it should
be cause for concern and a punishment index is defined as follows.
Punishment Index (PI) = Consideration / Conductor pay
(per day), [45]
Suggested Example values:
PI <= 0.01% - nuisance level; <= 1% - mild; >
10% - harsh.
The example of a coach conductor on a
train is used as it is an easily identified application for most citizens. But
the measurements and metrics are easily transferred to many other cases.
It is a common practice to pay an illegal
gratuity to a clerk in a government office to move a file to the top so that it
gets an officer’s attention quickly. We may be able to devise a measure for
this activity and analyze the case as we did with the train conductor example.
But, the successful implementation of Business Process Reengineering (BPR) [46]
in the nineties indicates that we have to take a look at the need for past
practices. Perhaps, we would like to define one of the performance measures for
an official as the time he takes to review a file. If a file has time stamps on
it for its entry and exit to the official’s purview, we can determine if the
official is paying due attention to a given file. With electronic filing of
applications, it is a simple matter to generate time stamps. Zero-corruption
indexed computer software can assist an official in drawing his attention to
pending files thus replacing the clerk who moves files influenced by a
consideration.
In the military, technological solutions
are mostly accompanied by changes in doctrine, organization, manpower, and
training in order that technology can be exploited to the fullest. [47]
Similarly, in the war against corruption, we should revisit and fine tune the
policies and procedures with a view to taking advantage of advanced
technologies. This doctrinal change can be revisited with BPR.
Electric linemen may also be monitored
with time stamps, scheduling service according to rules of customer service,
and standard times for completion of specified types of repair work. The
opportunities for considerations and the chances for corrupt practice dwindle
as the rules are made objective and least subjective to an Agent’s
interpretation.
The measurement and metrics I discussed in
this section are different from those discussed in the programs of Transparency
International (TI). [48]
TI’s measurement methods and
tools are very useful in showing where corruption exists. But my focus is on
the component processes and how to reengineer them with technology.
Furthermore, my emphasis is on robust processes that have in-process control to
eliminate corruption at the points of contact between an Agent and a consumer.
A National Strategy for
Controlling Corruption
In this section, I
will enumerate the essential features of an approach to control and perhaps
eliminate corruption from public life. A successful national strategy will have four principal components, which are:
·
Moral
and Ethical Resolve
·
National
Policy and Commitment
·
Leadership
and Management, and
·
Advanced
Technology.
The approach at highest level is based on values. A society owes its existence to fundamental values derived from the traditions and culture of the society. There can be periods when people lose sight of their value-compass and drift into contemptuous behaviors. It is the leadership’s responsibility to guide the society and set its course to a path of righteousness. Leaders and citizens should have the conviction that corruption is fundamentally wrong, that it results in economic disaster and that it is a certain pathway to violence. The nation should believe that honest processes and practices are right, that they improve initiative and development, and lead to greater economic development and rise of the nation.
“Honesty, responsibility, accountability and care for the common good are absolutely essential (in) … public life,” Vicente Fox, President of Mexico told the National Chamber of Commerce. “Ethics in politics is demonstrated with deeds and not with words,” he stressed. [49]
Robillard writes that the
approach they have taken in
1. Democratic values - helping Ministers under the law to serve the
public interest. We have enshrined principles such as impartiality and loyalty.
2. Professional values. Serving with competence, excellence,
efficiency and objectivity
3. Ethical values. The public service commits itself to acting at
all times in such a way as to uphold the public trust. Not just following the
letter of the law, but the spirit as well.
4. People values. The values such as compassion, fairness and
courtesy that we all strive to reflect in our daily lives and interactions with
others.
Education of citizens and public officials in values is the first and a necessary step in the crusade against corruption.
The next step is
in promulgating laws, regulations, and policies that dissuade and punish
corrupt practices and reward honest and integral conduct.
As stated in an earlier section, both the Agent and the Usurper are guilty in a corrupt transaction and should be subject to appropriate and deterrent punishment. Unfortunately, the long arm of the law is too short to catch them and the wheels of justice turn too slowly for these fast operators. It is worthwhile considering a concept of present value of punishment, which is somewhat similar to present value of money. An amount of money lent at a particular time increases at a compounded rate in value at a later time depending on the interest rate. Similarly, the quantum of punishment should increase exponentially with time. The premise is that a person deserves punishment soon after the crime is committed. If the offenders did not come forward to confess and plead guilty and if crime is discovered and proven at a later time, the punishment should grow exponentially with time. It is important to note with consternation that the offenders have been enjoying the spoils of their corrupt act, while the losers have suffered or have been suffering the denial of their property rights. Therefore, the punishment terms and victim compensation should increase with time, besides making all attempts to provide speedy justice.
So far I have emphasized punishment. Balancing of punishment for corrupt actions and rewards for honest and integral discharge of one’s mission is essential. Measurement and metric should be seen in the context of action to correct corrupt behavior by Agents and to reward those that perform their jobs productively, efficiently, and honestly. There is a sentiment that if administrators, officials, bureaucrats, and operatives are paid well, they will not be corrupt. This sentiment is not borne out of the evidence characterized by unlimited greed exhibited by various officials as described in a previous section. Nevertheless, in order to attract competent and honest people into government jobs, one must highlight reward schemes at the same time as one discusses punishments. This can be done through performance standards, which require honesty and integrity, measured as described before. Efficiency, effectiveness, productivity, and outcomes should go into rewards, which can boost a public servant’s compensation by several hundred per cent. In the total analysis, this will not be a net cost but will benefit the system by increasing the effectiveness of the national economic system. A travel company boosted its overall performance by paying five dollars to an agent every time a real customer wrote a letter complimenting an agent. With the present Internet forms technology, it is very simple and affordable to institute a punishment and rewards system.
Leadership should lead by exemplary conduct and management should institute processes and systems that are easily understood and implemented by stakeholders and the public. While launching a war against corruption, the doctrine of that war should be redefined according to the latest technology available. It means that the processes and people fighting the war, i.e. those that are discharging public duties, need a redefinition of their roles and knowledge.
As shown by Mitra’s descriptions in an earlier section, decisions made by political leaders and public administrators are influenced by information inputs from a variety of citizens. Citizens and groups compete for the time of political leaders so that they can provide their point of view or plead the merits of their respective cases. This situation adds value to a leader’s time, and when that value can be gained for a consideration, there is corruption involved. Any evolution of policy based on such selective inputs of information is tainted. Since political leaders make policies concerning taxes, fees, penalties, charges, credits, subsidies, investments, welfare programs, licenses, loans, and other matters of high finance, their policy–making process should be above board, transparent to the public, and measurable. As described here, since a political leader’s time has value, its apportionment should be measurable, accountable, and transparent to the public. In other words, leaders’ schedules of appointments and inputs to them should be instantly made public. In the Internet world, such a process is neither hard nor unaffordable. The technologies of 2005 have the power that those of 1950’s lacked.
Income, taxes,
and tax avoidance get top billing in a discussion of corruption. If income
(including assets and liabilities) information of public officials is readily
available, illegal tax avoidance and the corresponding bribing of officials are
likely to be eliminated. In the
Suppose a relative or a friend of an officer receives a bribe on behalf of the officer. This is equivalent to the officer receiving the bribe and passing it on to the relative or friend without paying taxes. The officer did not pay taxes on the funds received. The relative or friend did not pay gift taxes on the amount received. The relative or friend can perhaps be charged on a number of counts. The first one is collusion with the officer in a crime. The second one is of collusion in the officer’s avoidance of taxes. Finally, his own crime of not paying taxes on a gift from a friend. Of course, they are all dealing in stolen property as we discussed in an earlier section. Therefore, the sphere of influence of a corrupt officer should include all his relatives who are in the inheritance chain and the set of close friends. [56] Corrupt practices involving family, friends, and stand-ins are like parasitic diseases. It is essential to isolate and eliminate both the parasite and its habitat. In order to uphold the integrity of public service, it is essential that we get the family and friends to declare their assets and liabilities periodically.
One might argue that requiring of
officials to declare their incomes and those of their close relatives cannot
stand the test of the courts. But “the Indian Supreme Court has asked the
government to order all male government employees to declare the amount of dowry
they received at the time of their marriage …”
[57]
For instance, the Indian parliament should enact a law that requires recipients of large (say, above Rs 100,000) cash or in kind donations from any one (including friends, family members, and relatives) should declare those donations to IT department and a judge and get a notarized certificate from the donor that the funds were their legal property as of the date of donation. Even if the gift is not taxed, the timely reporting and accounting can help in disproportionate assets cases.
Finally, technology is applied to ensure that various processes are carried out in accordance with the policies and measurement and recording of actions and results are carried out. Since my emphasis in this paper is on technology, I will present a detailed discussion of the role advanced technology can play in controlling corruption in the next section.
Application of Advanced
Technologies
In general, the advanced technologies, which can be applied to minimize or even eliminate corruption, fall into the following categories.
· Information and databases
· Identification cards and biometrics
· Date and time stamps
· Geographic Positioning Systems (GPS)
· Identification tags
· Smart cash cards
· Voice and video recording
· Artificial Intelligence
· High Performance Computing
· Maps and geographic information systems (GIS)
· Modeling of transaction processes
Information and databases
In the last five to ten years, information technology has begun to play
a positive role in making information available to people in
In order to illustrate the benefits of information systems, I will go
back to the train example described earlier. Information kiosks have been set
up at a number of train stations in
When such systems become completely operational, a conductor in a coach on a specific train may simply be the custodian of an additional mobile computer terminal. He can also be a facilitator or usher to assist people in finding their respective seats. Smart key technology is becoming available that can allow passengers to find their seats themselves. [58] When one realizes that Indian Railways employ 1,580,000 people, [59] who interact with 4 billion passengers annually delivering various services, the requirement for advanced technologies becomes obvious. Furthermore, even if an amount of Rupees 40 billion is invested in technology, the investment per passenger interaction will only amount to Rupees 10! The benefits of that investment are enormous not only in eliminating corruption in Indian Railways but also in improving productivity, and passenger services. Evaluating and adopting a new doctrine of operations, or business process reengineering in harmony with the application of these technologies may even reduce operational and maintenance costs.
In the
With such technologies at her disposal, a
In what seems to be an issue-based application of e-Governance which
many see as unorthodox,
Prof P. V. Indiresan of the Centre for Policy Research (CPR) in New Delhi suggests that the maintenance of websites accessible to the public that monitor public affairs will expose public officials and institutions that are not doing their jobs properly. In the context of addressing the 'laws delays,' Indiresan recommends that if a website is to be created merely stating how long cases are running, it would effectively expose particular judges and lawyers who might be dragging the cases for their own benefit, causing immense suffering to the litigants concerned. [62] Indiresan’s recommendations are very useful in displaying and measuring the performance of public officials and operatives.
A secondary advantage of the information transparency is that it allows citizen groups to play an active and appropriate role in monitoring the conduct of administrators, officials, and operators. Participation by depositors in banks, coops, shareholders, pension funds and beneficiaries through dedicated consumer groups and representatives will go a long way in eliminating corruption in the financial sector. Similarly, passenger association representatives can act as a bulwark against corruption in the transportation sector. By working with consumer groups, the government will actually reduce its monitoring and vigilance costs. Lacking a medium to vent their frustrations with corruption coupled with poor services, people resort to agitations, hartals, dharnas, bandhs, and violent demonstrations when a situation reaches boiling point. Weblogs or Blogs [63] are web based records of people expressing their comments, viewpoints, and suggestions on a variety of issues. Public undertakings, such as the Indian Railways, can pro-actively set up databases and receive feedback that is readily usable. Here information flows both ways in real time.
For a variety of (good, bad, or indifferent) reasons, governments embark on land distribution or land acquisition and redistribution. This is a case of real property rights being bequeathed to selected people. Opportunities for illegal gains are galore in these transactions. One would expect that the government will discuss and plan the processes and mechanisms for distributions thoroughly and then follow a legitimate distribution procedure. The rules for selection of recipients and distribution of land are expected to be publicized. Once again, information and a process are involved, which can be designed to be very transparent and resistant to interpretation by the agent.
Identification cards with biometrics
Biometrics
Identification cards identify participants in a transaction and authenticate
that they are really who they claim they are. In the 2004 Bihar flood scam,
Income tax department (IT)
investigations have discovered that a person was using and signing under
different names: real name was Santosh Jha; signing in the records of the
If appropriate identification policies and
technologies are not utilized, unscrupulous officials and people will defraud
the system by using different names in
·
Voting
·
Concealing
ill-gotten wealth
·
Avoiding
taxes
·
Gaining
government benefits
·
Escaping
the law.
Biometric measures would have a very high
chance of preventing such identity abuses. Typical biometrics technologies are
fingerprints, iris scan, retina scan, hand image, and voice recognition. Biometric smart cards to identify voters
become essential to prevent voter fraud. [65]
The Hindu reported, “The (
ID in a database [69]
Identification
cards or ID’s using biometrics are very beneficial in applications described
above. But the Western countries are adopting separate ID cards for each
application. This practice can be costly and countries like
Date and time stamps
Transactions with
date and time stamps will identify when a transaction occurred. These stamps
are very useful in determining the priority order when a “first come first
served” is one of the key rules. Service providers can use these systems to
form virtual queues and avoid the discomfort of unduly long physical lines.
Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) in Andhra Pradesh has been using some of
these technologies with remarkable success. [70] In peak times, 50,000 to 70,000 pilgrims
stand in line to have the Darshan of the Lord. The temple administrators
have to maintain the "first in first out" queue discipline. The Q
Complex was a great improvement over the long-winding single queue where
pilgrims had to stand for hours together often in scorching heat. To ensure
queue discipline the pilgrims had to be "locked in" which is not
liked by many pilgrims.
The alternative that TTD conceived is to move away from physical waiting to a logical waiting. TTD launched a scheme called, Sudarsanam. Devotees get a bar-coded identification tag in the form of a wristband with TTD Logo. A process that takes about 20 seconds generates the identification tag that carries the approximate time at which the pilgrim is to report for Darshan. Over the years TTD has perfected the estimation algorithm that can precisely predict the waiting time taking into account various contingencies. Once a pilgrim collects the identification tag, he/she is free to return to their cottage, visit other temples, meditate, walk around or do whatever he/she deems fit. The pilgrim is to report to the counter again at the time indicated in the identification tag. A bar code scanner would quickly verify (in a process that takes an average of about 2 seconds) and let him in the physical queue. In a sense the pilgrim was in the "logical queue" between the time he/she left the counter with the Bar-coded identification tag and the time he /she reported back.
This technology can be extended to queues serving supplies during disasters, mass vaccinations, and so on. Besides eliminating corruption, such applications of technologies provide comfort to consumers, record the progress of transactions instantly and automatically, and improve the efficiency of the supply chains.
Identification schemes, watermarks, and encryption
technologies can be applied to verify and authenticate documents. There is need
for such verification and authentication of documents as genuine with the
following types of documents.
·
Birth
and death certificates
·
Domicile
and citizenship certificates
·
Voter
registration
·
Driver’s
license
·
Degree
or diploma
·
Land and
property ownership
·
Passport,
visa, and travel documents
·
Benefits
records (e.g. ration cards)
·
Bank
accounts and credit cards
There are
hundreds of applications requiring the identification of documents. Western
societies have been using separate and distinct technologies for these systems.
On the contrary,
Geographic Positioning Systems (GPS)
Geographic Positioning Systems (GPS) can identify where a transaction has occurred. Whether a transaction has actually taken place at an announced public location or a computer system in a secret location is used to conduct a transfer with a consideration can be discovered by locating the coordinates.
Identification tags
When a transaction
involves transfer of physical or real property, it is important to place an
identification tag on the property. Manufactured products carried serial
numbers imprinted on them. In the last forty years, barcodes were printed on
products to scan them rapidly and identify the products. Radio Frequency
Identification Device (RFID) technology is emerging and current prototypes are
very promising of great benefits. Tagging real property is important so that
government officials are assured that contractors deliver promised supplies and
the government operators in turn transfer appropriate property to consumers. In
the Bihar flood scam, lacking identification tags, “one truck, for instance, is shown to have carried sattu (roasted gram
flour) from
Smart cash cards
Smart cash cards
permit the conduct of cashless transactions. Smart cards can be used to
transfer funds and benefits and the transactions can easily be tracked as in
the following
“
Tirumala Tirupati Devastanam (TTD) implemented biometric photo identity access control system at Lord Venkateswara temple with the objective to arrest unauthorized entry of individuals into the temple complex. With the introduction of the system, the entry of every individual into the main temple complex could be checked by fingerprint reading and verification. In order to check the entry of people whose fingerprints are not operationally reliable, TTD is issuing a smart card, which displays the photo of the individual on a small screen. [74]
Voice and video recording
Voice and video recording of a transaction records what happened in a transaction. Ordinarily, such recordings are complex and expensive. But, the recent explosion of mobile phone and Internet technologies made these capabilities affordable. By applying these technologies, transactions can be recorded on Internet databases. These records can be made available to customers on the one hand and officials on the other, as appropriate.
Artificial Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and expert systems have made computer systems very intelligent and highly effective. These AI systems were originally used for consultative and diagnostics applications. They have moved from being “toy applications” into the mainstream.
Indian outsourcing operators (BPOs and call centers) are already using advanced (intelligent) form filling technologies to determine loan eligibility of applicants based on transaction rules laid out by the companies in the West. Indian officials can be trained to do the same for the Indian applicants once the Indian transaction rules are well defined and coded into intelligent forms. The decisions of officials can be analyzed by artificial intelligence (AI) tools such as case based reasoning systems. [75] Expert systems and experience based decision tables can further lighten an agent’s work load. Essentially, such forms take away the arbitrariness in the current decision making processes. There go the opportunities for corruption!
AI technology, such as case based reasoning (CBR) tools for example, can be used to diagnose decisions taken by officials and operators. CBR tools will form excellent training tools for operators. Web based intelligent computer aided instruction (ICAI) software is becoming very effective in training and education. [76] Such ICAI tools can be used not only to train operators in honest transactions but also in evaluating transactions as the officials perform their missions.
Accounting, auditing, and operation of rules and procedures can be verified by officials, as well as the public, almost concurrently with the execution of operations. In July 2002, after accounting scandals at Enron Corp. and WorldCom Inc., the US Congress passed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in an effort to prevent corporate chicanery. [77] It mandates that public companies maintain well-functioning internal controls to ensure the accuracy and reliability of their financial reporting. In their attempts to comply with the requirements of the Act, companies have built software with excellent capabilities. When an employee in the purchasing department writes a check to an unauthorized vendor, software alerts company executives, telling them who signed the check and who received it. The software can alert company executives to such breaches almost immediately, allowing companies to meet a real-time reporting requirement of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.
The applicable technologies have been well proven in US warehouses and
supermarkets. With on-line transaction processing (OLTP) systems, when a
customer buys a packet of soap powder, the computer systems at the soap powder
manufacturer are updated so that they are ready to ship the next consignment
according to predetermined ordering rules. [78]
Many supermarkets have been using frequent buyer cards, which can keep track of
how many gallons of milk a particular customer had bought during a certain
period and offer an additional gallon of milk as a gift to a loyal customer
from the supermarket. For example, it is very easy for these systems to track
the seed supply chain and customer orders and deliveries, if such technologies
are adopted by
Supermarkets, departmental stores, and gas stations have introduced loyalty club memberships and loyalty cards. [79] As customers visit a shop frequently and buy certain products, these systems keep track of transactions and reward loyal customers. These systems are so intelligent and full of information that they can remind customers of their buying needs. It is only a simple matter to adapt these technologies to track beneficiaries of government programs. Once such tracking is launched, officials and operators will find it hard to indulge in corruption.
With traditional paper files, bureaucrats may
procrastinate by claiming that the customer’s completion of the form is not
accurate or consistent. Current electronic forms technology is very advanced
and ensures that all fields in a form are complete at the time of submission. Users’
responses to the fields on a form can be verified automatically to ensure that
a customer’s application is completely valid. By time stamping and protecting the
contents from alteration, officials can be expected to work on customers’
applications according to specific schedules.
Most rules are arbitrary and cannot be
defined algorithmically, thus making them unsuitable for traditional computer
implementation. But advancements in AI, such as expert systems, apply rule
based decision making and are appropriate for qualitative rules in government
transactions.
High Performance Computing
Tracking cash and
cash considerations without the help of technology is difficult for the police
departments. One way to track illegal cash flow is to include barcodes on
bills, which will facilitate quick and easy monitoring of large cash or in-kind
transactions. It is now common in
Maps and geographic information systems (GIS)
Maps and geographic information systems (GIS) are now routinely employed in a variety of applications. [82] Law enforcement officials in Western countries find them very useful in mapping the intensity and extensive nature of crime. GIS are very useful during floods and other natural disasters to forecast problems and to institute preventive measures, and to take remedial actions. For example, there have been cases when corrupt officials resorted to allocating funds fraudulently in certain areas where there were no floods at all. In such instances, GIS systems can readily expose such cheating.
Simulation and modeling of transactions
Simulation and modeling of a transaction and modeling results can be used to compare actual versus model results. This comparison will allow technicians and functionaries to calibrate models and to determine if actual transactions are demonstrating any possibility of corruption and considerations. In modern warfare, simulation, modeling, and wargaming are extensively used. As political leaders declare a war against corruption, they have to model the individual encounters and battles and determine if strategies and tactics are yielding positive results or if new doctrines are indicated.
Although I described individual technologies in this section, combinations of these technologies are applied in building information systems for the delivery of services in the various sectors. A consolidated effort at ensuring an IT-enabled public sector, despite possible short-term hiccups, is bound to pay rich dividends in creating efficiency, stemming corruption, and enhancing development.
Conclusion
If, as Chandan Mitra says, the black economy is “roughly equal to the Gross Domestic Product,” then, serious investments are needed to control this evil and to expect strong economic development. I have described in this paper a strategic approach consisting of reinforcing national values, policy initiatives, leadership and management reforms, and the application of advanced technology.
Technologies related to information systems and databases will increase transparency. But, in order to make them affordable and useful in controlling corruption from occurring, these systems have to be real time and have to be generated automatically from transactions. Transactions, their rules, and stakeholders should be listed so that people can be vigilant about violations if they occur. Lacking identification numbers for people, most transactions are very hard to trace, leaving the door wide open to corruption. Implementation of biometric and smart card identification technologies is essential. Together with such identification technologies, information systems can point to who is participating and benefiting legally in transactions and who, if any, are defrauding the system. In order to avoid large scale cash transactions, smart cash cards closely linked to real time accounting systems should be used.
Audio and video recording of transactions will deter officers and operators from taking illegal considerations. Assets acquired by ministers, administrators, officers and mid-level officials and people in their spheres of influence should be declared periodically for review by judicial officials to eliminate any opportunities for acquiring assets disproportionate to their incomes.
As these technologies are built into transaction systems, opportunities for corruption will decline and we will be well on our way to eliminating the cancer of corruption. If an amount of Rupees 33,000 crores [83] is invested in advanced technologies to eliminate corruption, the nation redirects that much money from the “parallel economy” to the national economy. The importance of these technological measures is reinforced by the following perceptions.
Tavleen Singh says, “… one of the financial newspapers reported that the ambitious Bharat Nirman programme was going to cost another Rs 70,000 crores. The five-year plan to build rural infrastructure already has a bill of Rs 174,000 crores and the plan is to spend this money on irrigation, roads, water, electricity, telecommunications and housing.” [84] Tavleen Singh goes on to state that we need “… a comprehensive plan of radical administrative reform.” Such an administrative reform is a good opportunity to evaluate the benefits of applying advanced technologies in administration of all programs.
If the government of
The Hindu reported that when President Kalam sought his
guidance for eradicating corruption, the Jain spiritual leader Acharya
Mahapragya entrusted him with the daunting task of "reforming the faulty
system of modern economics by preparing a complete action plan." [86]
According to the Acharya, the plan should be based not only on the principles
of modern economics but integrated with inter-disciplinary research in diverse
branches like science, sociology, psychology, philosophy and religion.” I
believe I discussed in this paper how science and technology can be an integral
part of the strategy to fight corruption in
A story (in a lighter vein)
is told, which goes like this. Perturbed by annual CPI rankings, many prime
ministers and presidents of corrupt countries approached God for help in
eliminating corruption. God’s response
was that it might not happen in their lifetime. It was a shock to them and all
of them wept bitterly on God’s shoulder. The Indian prime minister also sought
God’s help and advice so that he could also eliminate corruption from
Chandan Mitra [88] says
that
[1]
[2] Chandan
Mitra, “The Corrupt Society- The Criminalization of India from
[3] Mitra, cover page
[4] Mitra, page 76
[5] Mitra, Page 87
[6] Mitra, page 163
[7] Mitra, page 171
[8] Mitra, page 95
[9] Mitra, page 98; In here Mitra narrates the very interesting case of an MP who had to cater to a myriad needs and demands of his constituents who visit the MP’s household in the Capital. Perhaps, a solution to this kind of a situation can be addressed separately without opening the door of corruption ajar. For example, a private nonprofit corporation can be set up to reimburse such necessary functions of political leaders based on predetermined guidelines. This idea is similar to a Trust Fund described by Mitra on page 114 of his book.
[10] The concept, sphere of influence, is explained in a later section
[11] Mitra, page 109.
[12] Arun
Kumar , The Black Economy in
[13] Arun Kumar, page 40.
[14] Vinod
Pavarala, “Interpreting Corruption: Elite Perspectives in
[15] Pavarala page 64
[17] Source:
Working Paper: Fighting Corruption: What Remains to be Done at EU Level, Submitted to the EU
Institutions by TI-Brussels, November 1999,
Source: http://www.transparency.org/working_papers/country/brussels_memorandum.html
[18] Source: Corruption and Economic Development , Stephen J. H. Dearden,
[19] Anti-Bribery Convention, Source:http://www.oecd.org/document/21/0,2340,en_2649_34859_2017813_1_1_1_1,00.html
[20] This is an important point as I call the bribe giver the usurper of property (see later sections).
[21] Page 8 of Stephen J. H. Dearden
[22] Page 11 of Stephen J. H. Dearden
[24] Berg, Erlend, "How Should Corruption be Measured?", MSc
Economics extended essay, London School of Economics and Political Science, May
2001, http://members.lycos.co.uk/eberg/.
[25] Mathieu Deflem, Published
in Journal of Criminal Justice
23(3):243-258 (1995), http://www.cla.sc.edu/socy/faculty/deflem/zcorjus.html
[27] Source:
http://www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets/ac/04/briefing/2004-4052B1_09_Hussain-Arden-UK-Presentation.ppt#473,9,The
Scientific
[28] Source: http://www.frontlineonnet.com/fl2201/stories/20050114008113200.htm
“... Laloo Prasad Yadav was featured by a number of television channels on
December 18 distributing cash to Dalit women at Bihta village in Ibrahimpur
near the State's capital
[29] Of course, in this example, I avoided the argument that elimination of licensing eliminates corruption. I also assumed that only one license is available for issue to emphasize the rights involved.
[30] The case is no different in a private hospital, once a waiting list of paying patients is established.
[31] Source: Indian Express, http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=70420
[32] Sources: http://www.hindu.com/2005/06/02/stories/2005060210470400.htm
http://www.hindu.com/2005/06/02/stories/2005060203980500.htm
http://www.hindu.com/2005/06/02/stories/2005060203990500.htm
[33] Here is where information is money and power.
[34] Although Transparency International usually states that information should be publicly available, they are not really talking of such low level or consumer or transaction level information. http://www.corisweb.org/article/archive/246/
[35] The author is neither a lawyer nor a student of law, but is merely interpreting the situation based on common sense.
[37] Also in Tavleen Singh’s article in http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=65461
[38]
Source: A Question of Trust: Furthering the Values and Ethics Agenda,” Speech
by the Honorable Lucienne Robillard, President of the Treasury Board and Member
of Parliament for Westmount-Ville-Marie,
[39] Bharat
Dogra writes that The Right to Information Bill needs to be amended to make governance
much more transparent and give citizens any information they want.
Source: http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=69231
[40] Officers and operators are likely to make errors in judgment, which are unfortunate but do not constitute a violation. Discussion of efficiency and effectiveness of a system to avoid or minimize errors and mistakes is not in the scope of this paper and can be taken up separately.
[42] The term consideration here does not imply corruption; it means compensation.
[43] Zwicky, F. (1960), A morphologist ponders the smog problem, Engineering and Science Journal, California Institute of Technology 24: (2); 22-26;
Zwicky, F. (1962), Morphology of Propulsive Power,
Society for Morphological Research,
Zwicky, F. (1969), Discovery, Invention, Research:
Through the Morphological Approach, Macmillan,
[45] Transparency International defined a somewhat similar measure, called bribe ratio.
[46] Business process reengineering
(BPR) is the analysis and redesign of workflow within and
between enterprises. http://searchcio.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid19_gci536451,00.html
[51] Source: Siliconindia, http://www.siliconindia.com/shownewsdata.asp?newsno=28084&newscat=Top
[53] Sources: http://www.usoge.gov/pages/common_ethics_issues/common_ethics_issues_pg2.html#Anchor--Financi-26581
http://www.usoge.gov/pages/laws_regs_fedreg_stats/lrfs_files/exeorders/eo12731.html
[55] Source: http://www.usoge.gov/pages/common_ethics_issues/common_ethics_issues_pg2.html#Anchor--Gener-30592 Spouse, children, parents, and close friends and business associates fall into this category.
“Section
13 [of the Prevention of Corruption Act,1988] provides that a public servant
shall be guilty of misconduct, if it was proved that he or any person on his
behalf was in possession of 'disproportionate assets' i.e. property or
valuables, disproportionate to his known income for which the accused could not
satisfactorily account.” Source: http://www.geocities.com/kstability/projects/law/pcact1.html
[56] The assumption is that family, friends, and accomplices know that the officer is receiving a consideration (corrupt funds) or that the funds are outside the known sources of income.
[57] Source: Siliconindia, http://www.siliconindia.com/shownewsdata.asp?newsno=27971&newscat=Top
[58] Smart key devices will be similar to the key chain
devices now available that flash car lights and sound an audio signal when the
driver of a vehicle presses a button on her key chain.
[61] Source: http://cvc.nic.in
[65] The Hindu News item: “Electoral rolls: Last day rush alarms officials,”http://www.hindu.com/2005/06/02/stories/2005060206770100.htm
[77] Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/12/AR2005061201010.html"As long as you are doing things that are within your responsibility there's no audit trail created. That way we're not Big Brother," said Joseph Sander, Consul's president and chief executive.
But when an employee in the purchasing department writes a check to an unauthorized vendor, Consul's software alerts company executives, telling them who signed the check and who received it.
[83] Chnadan Mitra (page 24) states that the parallel economy is estimated to be worth Rupees 33,000 crores (1998 figure)
[88] Mitra, page 209