Speaking about Bribing

By Baptist Sequeira, Moodubelle

Bellevision Media Network

 

05 May 2011: Recently we had observed a nationwide awareness initiated by  Anna Hazare and activists against corruption to pressurize the government to initiate and pass the Lokpal bill in order to prevent corruption and punish the corrupt government officials and politicians who take bribe from the people in order to get their routine work done. However, it is important to understand the circumstances that leads the officials to demand bribe or the people to offer the same.

 

For example few situations can be cited where the possibility of bribe taking or giving may be practiced:

 

1)      One has  to obtain a certificate from Nursing Council for someone when they are trying to proceed to UK or  USA.
2)      While registering a house in Bangalore.
3)      For obtaining a lost RC of a vehicle.
4)      During the process of chopping one’s  own tree for the purpose of house building.
5)      To Transfer a Nurse from Bangalore to Udupi.

 

Let me try to point out how the system works in relation to the above examples:

 

When my friend’s wife  got a chance to go to UK, they requested me to get their Course Certificate from the Nursing Council at Bangalore. When I went to the registrar (who was a Muslim lady), she asked me whether I wanted  the certificate on the same day that i visited the office  or  be sent by post. If  I wanted it on the same day, she said that I may have to pay Rs. 500/- extra to the peon sitting outside of her office or pay the normal fees and wait till I get the certificate at home after may be three  month time. But for my friend whose wife could earn in lakhs once getting into UK,  paying Rs. 500/-  and getting the certificate immediately was a better option. I did pay additional Rs.500/- and my friend’s wife and later my friend went o UK and they might have watched on TV Anna Hazare’s fast.

 

During a house registration in Bangalore, we went to a document writer. He explained the process in two ways. One was only fees which was Rs. 8,000/- all inclusive including some percentage of value of land or to pay a lump sum amount of  Rs. 15000/-, which included all paperwork,  bribe and everything. We agreed for Rs.15000/- instead of  Rs.8,000/-. When we went to the registrar we did not have to wait in queue but within one hour the entire registration process completed, leaving behind all the local people who were waiting for their work to be done. For a person from Udupi, who had gone to buy a house in Bangalore this way seemed to be easier.
 

 

I was working in Chennai and travelling to home in Bangalore only on the week ends. I had lost the Registration Certificate (RC) of my bike. I had to obtain a copy of this. I had purchased the vehicle from the Hero Honda showroom at Koramangala, but did not know which RTO office they had registered my bike. I contacted a worker who works in the RTO office. He informed me that the normal charges for the RC is Rs 100/- if I  apply. But I had to go to Yeshwanthpur, where I did not know the RTO. But the person told me that if I paid Rs 4000/-, he would get me the RC within a week. However,  I paid Rs. 2000/- in advance and Rs. 2000/- on delivery in a week. In this way, I saved a lot of my time.

 

Very badly we wanted to cut one of our jack fruit tree during our house construction  because we wanted to make main door with valuable wood. But when we went to the Forest Officer, he told us that the tree in question near the house was on the bank of a river which belonged to the government. But when we contacted Timber Gopesha, he told us that if we paid Rs. 10,000/- he would take the tree to the saw mill and get it sawed and bring home without any problem. He told us that  he had to pay the Forester, Ranger, Guard, Local Panchayath President and get my work done. If I had to get the wood required for the door from the depot I would have had to  pay Rs. 18,000/-. Thus, paying Rs.10,000/- I could save Rs.8,000/-

 

When my sister who is a government nurse had to get a transfer from Hassan to Udupi we faced a peculiar situation. The government had banned transfer and my sister was working in Arehalli village of Hassan which was very much an interior place. When we contacted a person in Bangalore to get my sister’s transfer, he requested Rs. 50,000/- in cash or cheque in order to get the  process of transfer within a month’s time. But we had to pay in full in advance and we had no guarantee whether the work would be done or not. Luckily for us, the transfer happened.

 

Honestly, I have listed all these experiences of my own. There may be thousands of people who might have undergone similar situations and paid similar kind of bribe or even less or more.

 

Now punishing the person who takes bribe may be the purpose of the Lokpal Bill. But what about the educated people like me who are ready to offer bribe in order to get ut work done in a hurry or out of turn?

 

Along with the Lokpal Bill there is need to educate the citizens of the country as to how they can avoid giving bribe. In this respect few steps can be taken in order to avoid giving bribe:

1) Determination not to pay bribe and wait till the government officials do the work.
2) The government should  increase the salary of its employees.
3) There should be transparency in the posting and transfer of government.
4) Strict action should be taken by the government on the corrupt and inefficient employees.

 

There could be many more suggestions as to how to avoid giving and taking bribes and prevent corruption.