“I am verifying your details, which means doing your work, so I deserve mithai,” a government official told a person who went to a police station for a passport verification process.
Democracy, as we know it, is considered the best form of government because people are powerful, participate in all state activities, choose rulers directly or indirectly, criticize institutions for their policies, and set demands on which the chosen government works to remain in power. There is less chance of absolutism as various organs keep checks on powers. Most countries have opted for a democratic form of government. People have struggled for a long time to achieve a system where citizens can enjoy their lives with dignity, which is possible by granting them rights that were not available in earlier forms of government.
In modern democracies, various institutions such as the legislature, executive, judiciary, and police have been created to perform different activities in the state. It should be noted that all these institutions have been created for the security of persons. The state itself is created for individuals. All the contractualists have said that the state is created for the security of persons. Thus, the state must serve individuals; otherwise, it has no role. The state is not an end, but the individual is. When the state is for individuals, it means that all its institutions are for individuals so that individuals can achieve security, freedom, equality, and peace.
Earlier, the state had a lesser role, but nowadays, the state has a bigger role. It is present everywhere, whether in public or personal spheres of life. In welfare states, it has taken on more roles in providing schemes and facilities, and it needs details of every person, as in the case of Aadhar cards, passports, etc. This role is assigned to different institutions. Now, a person is bound to these institutions to avail of services like jobs, education, health facilities, etc.
A person went to a police station after he got a call to visit for verification purposes because he had applied for a passport. There was an official who was asking for some mithai before doing the work. The person did not give it, and the officer glared at him angrily. Mithai here does not mean sweets but illegal money in a very legitimate way so it looks normal and natural. There is a politics of language at work here, where words are used to normalize and naturalize illegal things like corruption. Most people do not refrain or resist because they feel “mithai to deni hai” (mithai has to be given) to get their work done, or they may be afraid of power positions that might prevent their work from being done. Thus, this mithai is becoming a part of our lives. Wherever we go, we have to give mithai, whether it is to a chaprasi, patwari, or any other official.
Newly joined people in these institutions inherit this idea of mithai from senior officials, creating trouble for the people of the country. Another person had applied for a mushroom cultivation scheme to start a business in the agricultural office in Pulwama. He was told he was selected, but when the list came out, his name was not on it. The government has made laws to bring transparency, accountability, and openness to the people, but the ground-level situation is different. In institutions, there are corrupted and immoral people who are looting common and poor masses, especially those who are illiterate because they do not know their rights. They think no one can listen to them, or they may not know how to respond to these things, apply grievances, or get information about any matter.
The government is responsible for organising workshops and seminars about how to fight these corrupt officials and what the procedure is. Officials should be given clear instructions about their duties and service to people. We, the common masses are also responsible for this situation because we are accepting these things and not thinking about others. We should not be afraid because they get their salary from the work assigned to them. We should report and talk publicly about such things. We have grievance cells and anti-corruption organizations where we can approach.
Aristotle said citizens are those who have reason and who participate in the activities of the state. We should play our role in eliminating this menace of corruption from our society so that this society becomes ideal and has better living conditions for us and future generations.
The writer can be reached at to***********@***il.com