Headlines
Even before Kejriwal takes oath, bribe taking wanes
New Delhi, Feb 13
Just hours after the AAP
swept to a brute majority in Delhi, a young vendor who sells ‘momos’
(dim sums) in south Delhi refused to pay the beat constable the daily
‘hafta’ or bribe money.
“I won’t pay any more, and I won’t pay
for five years,†the vendor, who is in his 20s and parks himself near a
bus stand, told the startled policeman who beat a silent and hasty
retreat.
The next day, petty traders who routinely paid policemen
bribes every morning while moving their home manufactured goods from
Sangam Vihar in south Delhi were surprised that no one sought money from
them.
In another part of south Delhi, a group of auto-rickshaw
drivers said they would no more pay bribes to park their vehicles along a
main road - which they had been doing for a long time to keep peace
with cops.
Incidents such as these are being reported from
different areas as Delhi prepares for a five-year regime of
anti-corruption activist Arvind Kejriwal, who will take oath Saturday as
chief minister for a second term.
When he took oath as chief
minister for the first time in December 2013, Kejriwal made it more than
clear that he would not tolerate corruption in any form. Corrupt
officials were threatened with dismissal.
He also urged Delhi’s
residents not to pay bribes and instead to covertly record on mobile
telephones requests for bribes from officials - and to alert his
administration.
In no time, the obnoxious practice of paying
‘hafta’ or payoff money to police and municipal corporation employees by
small time vendors and even traders came to a virtual end.
This was unprecedented in a society where bribery is a way of life.
Aam
Aadmi Party (AAP) activists say that with Kejriwal set to take power
Saturday, the message has gone home that corruption will not be
tolerated.
No one knows how much ‘hafta’ or payoff money is
generated every day - from transporters, vendors, traders and just about
anyone doing business in the capital. It is believed to run into
hundreds of thousands of rupees.
“The fact is no one before
Kejriwal ever ended day-to-day corruption the way he did,†said Surinder
Singh, a doctor in south Delhi who was among the millions who voted for
the AAP this time.
“Naturally, his reputation as someone who cannot tolerate corruption deters the corrupt,†he added.
This
could also be one reason why Delhi Police wants to provide high-level
security to Kejriwal, who it is felt could at some point of time be
targeted by those who suffer economically because of his distaste for
corruption.
This is said to be one reason why the overwhelming
majority of the city’s poor and the not-so-poor, including vendors,
auto-rickshaw drivers and all those engaged in low-income work, voted en
masse for the AAP.