Let's imagine for a moment that corruption vanishes - no one takes bribes any more. Which of the following do you think would now happen as a result?
- Dalits will not face discrimination anywhere; people will stop believing in caste and elections will be around issues, not social groups. Unborn girls will not be killed, dowry will go, sexual harassment will vanish, the notion of 'minority' will not need to be discussed, equality and equity will be established.
- People will start working harder, with greater commitment, be much more innovative, and therefore the economy will shoot up. Private enterprise will no more be required to shore up government efforts.
- We will stop exploiting environmental resources in a dangerous manner, all power and energy related problems will be solved, petrol will become cheaper, our sources of water will not be polluted any more and global warming will come to a halt (at least in India).
- All children will start attending school and learning well; teachers will transform into good teachers, all government schools will become great schools, and India's learning standards will be among the highest in the world. In sports too we will emerge as a world power.
- Inflation will not affect us any more, the price of food and other essentials will come down, no matter what happens elsewhere in the world.
- Health and nutrition levels will go up greatly, diseases of the poor (water-borne ones or those caused by malnutrition, for instance) will be vanquished.
- Poor governance will vanish - in the absence of bribes, officials will become competent, start taking good decisions, stop representing power groups, start listening to people and actually working for their betterment.
Oscar Wild said: 'Stupidity is the only sin.' And in that sense, Anna&Co are great sinners. Unfortunately, those who continue to believe they're helping destroy the roots of our problems and bringing about real change - are even more so.
