Saturday, 2 November 2013 00:00
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India is rarely absent from headlines in Sri Lanka’s newspapers, especially as the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) draws closer. Fortunately on Thursday it hit headlines for a positive reason, a ruling by the highest court in the world’s largest democracy to combat corruption.
India’s track record for tackling corruption is one of the worst in the world but it shows progress on a level that Sri Lanka can still learn from, if it wishes to. In a landmark ruling, India’s Supreme Court decided that civil servants should not act on the verbal orders given by their Ministers and opened up refreshing avenues for fighting corruption at an unprecedented level.
This liberating concept will mean that corruption charges will be much easier to frame and civil servants will have a key role to play in stamping out the twin evils – corruption and mismanagement. It also gives the chance for India’s still impressive civil servant cadre to be independent from random and unfair transfers that can be passed by wily politicians interested in covering their stinking tracks.
Suggesting sweeping reforms in the functioning of bureaucracy, the bench also ruled that the Indian Parliament must enact a law to regulate postings, transfers and disciplinary action against bureaucrats. The apex court passed the verdict on a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by 83 retired bureaucrats seeking its directions for insulating bureaucracy from political interference.
Earlier this month an Indian court sentenced a powerful ally of the ruling Congress party to five years in jail for siphoning off State funds, underlining that a wave of public disgust with rampant corruption is finally catching up with the nation’s politicians. The sentence means that Lalu Prasad Yadav will lose his seat in the Lower House of Parliament, making him the first to be hit by a Supreme Court ruling in July – reflecting the popular mood – that convicts may not sit in Legislatures even during an appeal.
It is disheartening that Sri Lanka’s 1.2 million civil servants are not empowered in similar ways. A Government keen to show itself to the world as an impressive study on growth (in fact the theme of CHOGM is inclusive development) has shown no interest in cleaning up its act. Expansion of the public service alone is not enough. They must be given the environment to truly contribute to the development process of Sri Lanka.
In fact last week during a debate in Parliament over the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE), UNP MP Dr. Harsha de Silva termed the House “a den of thieves” and slammed members for making absolutely no effort to promote accountability in thousands of financial transactions carried out by the Government. Pointing out that several Members of Parliament themselves have accusations of murder and rape against them, Dr. de Silva bravely pointed out that the only time the Government has attempted to promote accountability is either under international pressure or as political revenge. He also called out the top leaders of Government, including President Mahinda Rajapaksa, for not pushing ahead with financial corruption highlighted year after year in COPE and allowing it to increase to “catastrophic” levels.
Moving back to India, it is also leagues ahead of Sri Lanka in terms of media freedom and Right to Information legislation. These may be insufficient but they show that India has recognised change is necessary and are at least willing to make the attempt.
India, for better or for worse, will always have an impact on Sri Lanka. It is indeed a pity that Sri Lankans cannot look beyond the obvious political parlays to worthwhile measures being enacted by their neighbour – reforms that are sorely needed across the Palk Strait too.
