What a common man can do against corruption

Today corruption is a burning topic in India, Everyone is fed up of corruption. News channels are showing various programs and hosting discussions on corruption. Social media is full of posts about corruption and netizen are liking and sharing those emotional posts like anything. But most of these posts are telling about the corruption and its amplitude. They are discussing how bad it is, what are its affects on society and why it should be eradicated. But rarely will you find a post to explain, what a common man can do to fight against day to day corruption. Supporters of various political parties are blaming each other for corruption and trying to convince the online community to vote for their party, as if one political party or the other is going to use some magic stick to remove all corruption in the system. But this is not possible at all.

Of course corruption is a bad thing and it should be eradicated. But no single person can clean the system overnight. Multi-level efforts are required to do this herculean task. We the people of India can play a key role to eradicate the corruption from our system. For higher level and political corruption you need different method and for lower level corruption you need a totally different method. Here in this article I’m trying to explain what a common man like you and me can do in fight against day to day corruption.

1.       Know the rules: Knowledge is the best instrument to be used against day to day corruption. If you are aware of the rules and the method to file complaint you can definitely make a difference. But most of up hardly bother about the rules and correct procedure of doing a thing. Our ignorance empowers the government employees or officers to do what they want to do. Remember there are always right ways to do the things and also a ways to fight against the wrong practices. If wrong practices really hurt us, we should try to find out the right methods and proper places to complain against them.

2.       Spread Knowledge: Tell others about the rules and about the methods to fight against corruption. More you spread knowledge the more you empower people to fight against corruption.

3.       Follow the rules: Before we correct others we should correct ourselves. If we are taking the wrong path we cannot ask others to follow the right one.

4.       Collect as many proofs as you can: If you have made up your mind to do your bit against corruption, collect enough proof to prove the corruption. You may take help of modern electronic devices like mobile, camera, voice recorder etc. Try to collect paper proof of the corruption. If required use RTI Act to collect official information.

5.       Make a group: Tty to find other aggrieved people and invite them form a group. People with similar problems can help each other. If you know certain other people who are aggrieved and want to fight against the same type of corruption It is better to take them with you It will give you strength.

6.       Give Representation: Give representation to proper authority about the case with proper proofs and logics.  It is a good Idea to make double copy of the representation and take a receiving from the office where you are giving the representation. It will strengthen you case and force the authorities to consider you seriously. Many departments have simplified online complaint facility available making it easy to complain and keep track of the complaint.

7.       Informing Vigilance Department: In many cases It is difficult to collect valid proofs of the corruption. In such cases Vigilance department can help you. You can inform them and they themselves plan a trap for the corrupt officer. Then you help them in their trap to catch the guilty person.

8.       Involve Media: In extreme cases media and public can be involved but generally it is not advisable to involve media at early stages of action. Social media can also help but only for spreading the news. It is generally seen that netizens do not help in real life situations.

9.       Follow Up: Do not leave the case after filing the complaint. Give proper follow up till the action is not taken. It may seem difficult initially but once it is done It will set an example and other will take lesson from the same.