Railways: Is organisational spread and public interface directly proportional to corruption?
Posted on September 23, 2011
Corruption is often synonymous with most of our government departments. While in some departments, the magnitude of corruption is extremely high; in some others, the scale is moderate. The varying incidence of corruption can be attributed to different reasons ranging from the strength of the organisation to the level of public interface. Recently, the Central Vigilance Commission released its annual report for the year 2010. The report reveals that the Indian Railways is the most corrupt of government organisations in India. According to the report, one in every three government employees penalised for corruption is from the Railways.
The Indian Railways not only has the largest number of employees as compared to the other government organizations but is also the most cost-effective and hence preferred mode of public transport. This is evident from the magnitude of people using railways for long distance as well as short distance, and local travel in most parts of the country. As a result, it is not surprising that a major chunk of the population regularly interface with railway officials, the most common interaction being that with the train ticket collectors. Is it this interaction and interface along with the organisational spread which acts as a catalyst in augmenting and boosting corrupt practices in the railway department? While this could largely be one of the major reasons for amplifying bribery in the department, it is important to understand the bribe trends and patterns to gain an insight into the corruption dynamics of the organization.
The most rampant of the bribe trends is ticketless travel as one finds it easier to pay a bribe in lieu of the fines and escape the situation. Other areas where paying bribes is taken as a given includes confirmation of berths, extra-luggage, upgradation of class and non-possession of platform tickets. On carefully examining the bribes reported by citizens at ipaidabribe.com, one finds that a large number of complaints with regards to the railway department have been posted in the above discussed situations. We share with you a few reports, as examples:
“On 2nd Jan, 2011, I got an instant notice to reach Bhopal. I went to NZM railway station got the general ticket and went into the reservation coach...Since waiting of many passengers was not cleared I didn't have any chance to get a berth. I asked the TC if there is any berth vacant…he said give me Rs 500 and I will give u a berth.”
“I was not having a platform ticket and the TT caught me. He asked for Rs 257 penalty (with receipt), I immediately agreed to that. He was shocked as to how I agreed and he told me to pay only Rs. 100 and go (without a receipt).”
In all the above mentioned cases, it is imperative to note that citizens are equally responsible for perpetuating these acts of corruption. While these acts clearly reflect mistakes on part of the commuters, the bribe amount, which is generally lower than the prescribed fine, has been used as a final resort. Thus, while government officials are to be blamed for not executing their duty, it is also important to understand that our citizens, who are the bribe-givers, are equally responsible.
While this exposes the transactional acts of corruption or what is known as retail corruption, the CVC report also looks at corruption that involves huge sums of money due to mismanagement and irregularities on part of the higher officials. As regular non-compliance to rules and procedures, unplanned contracts and discrepancies in managing the same surface time and again, an important question is why there is delay in actions being taken against such erring officials.
Corruption and its manifestations are out there in the open for the public as well as our administrators and elected representatives to see. What comes as a surprise is lack of accountability and heightened levels of apathy to put in place corrective mechanisms.