By IANS,
Bangalore : Enough is enough, is what a group of Bangaloreans seems to be saying on International Anti-Corruption Day observed Wednesday. They have pledged to fight corruption which is rampant in public life.
Around 200 Bangaloreans under the aegis of a Bangalore-based Coalition Against Corruption (CAC) — an anti-corruption initiative — staged a demonstration to create mass awareness against corruption near the Mahatma Gandhi statue on MG Road here Wednesday.
“I am here to say that it’s time to say no to corruption. Let us stop giving bribes at government offices to get our work done faster. Now is the time to say ‘Khilana bandh, pilana shuru’,” young Pallavi Sharma, participating in the demonstration, told IANS.
“Khilana bandh, pilana shuru” (instead of a bribe, offer tea) is the latest campaign started by tea major, Tata Tea against corruption, targeting the young.
“We’re here to condemn the rise of the menace of corruption in public bodies and government agencies. Corruption is a scourge hampering the allround development of the country,” Ravindranath Guru, CAC convener, told IANS.
The CAC is a campaign to combat corruption in a systematic way by lending a helping hand to citizens willing to fight corruption in public bodies and government agencies.
“Corruption is causing huge damage in Bangalore. Corruption and malpractices are increasing their fangs in the day-to-day life of every Bangalorean,” added Guru.
Supporting Guru’s opinion are figures on the number of corruption cases that the city has seen in recent times.
At least 265 officials were caught accepting bribes in the state in 2008, as per data available with Karnataka Lokayukta, the state’s vigilance cell.
According to the latest Tata Tea-commissioned study by AC Nielson across three major cities of India – New Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore – corruption in public life is more rampant in Bangalore.
When 1,226 respondents were asked if they’d paid a bribe in the last month, 7 percent said they had and Bangaloreans topped with 11 percent.
A whopping 46 percent said they wouldn’t mind paying a bribe to get work done faster. Again, Bangalore topped with 53 percent who were ready to pay.
The study was released on the eve of International Anti-Corruption Day Tuesday, during the Bangalore launch of ‘Khilana bandh, pilana shuru’.
It is a part of Tata Tea’s earlier campaign christened as Jaago Re.
The Vrath Yatra, a bus journey aimed at creating awareness about corruption as part of the Jaago Re campaign was also flagged off Tuesday.
Lokayukta Justice N. Santosh Hegde, who flagged off the Vrath said: “In India if work is not done, people offer a bribe, and this needs to be stopped. Corruption started with bureaucracy, moved to politics and has trickled down to the field of education, to doctors, engineers and health officials.”
“Khilana bandh, pilana shuru is an aggressive way to prevent corruption and malpractice,” added Hegde.
The 38-day-bus journey across the country will connect with the youth and urge them to combat corruption.
The UN General Assembly has designated Dec 9 as International Anti-Corruption Day.
According to the latest report of Transparency International, India has been ranked 74th in the list of “honest nations”.