INDIA: Winter of graft

In recent weeks, the ripples of the '2G' scam in India – over parcelling out contracts for bandwidths of 'second–generation' wireless technologies – have spread ever wider. In their course, they have engulfed not only politicians and industrialists, the usual suspects, but also the media. Even senior members of the judiciary have been making contradictory claims on whether Telecom Minister A Raja had been named by them in official letters or not. Coming close on the back of the Delhi Commonwealth Games scandal, in which millions of rupees allegedly lined the pockets of New Delhi politicians and their minions, the extent of systemic corruption has become the subject of heated debate in India. Unlike in the past, however, the figures being bandied about currently are truly mind-boggling, making even the Commonwealth Games losses seem puny: according to reports, the 2G scam has caused losses of some INR 1.8 trillion to the national exchequer.

The 2G matter provides a potent lesson in how the business of governance is carried out in today's India. The composition of the Rajya Sabha is already an indication of corporate influence on law-making, with fierce lobbying for entry into the portals of the legislature without the risk of standing for elections. Moreover, industrialists, we now learn, hold massive influence over ministerial appointments at the Centre, technically the sole prerogative of the prime minister. Some national-level journalists appear to have little compunction about acting as messengers between industry and government – whether for financial gain, flattery or keeping a source on track. Everyone, it seems, wants to think of themselves as a player in running the country, and this includes those who have no business doing so.