Transparency International (India)

5th Pillar

A cancerous strain seems to have besieged our nation.

Poverty, hunger, illiteracy, lack of universal healthcare are all reasons enough that make a democratic form of governance ideal for any country. However, when corruption of sub-continental scale becomes systemic, the fundamentals of a true democracy are shaken into moments of chaos and churning.

Yet, these are moments of opportunity for those who untiringly work towards & aspire to see India’s true economic/social/cultural prowess & glory rise from foundations of truth, justice, freedom and fairness for all. The roots for this convention emerged against this backdrop and represents a systematic convergence of civic minds and experts (national and international) to have a civil dialogue in the spirit of national fondness and constructive change.

Conversations on corruption can quickly degenerate to partisan rhetoric, unless dialogued with sensitivity to the context and terrain in which it is operative. (more here)

In an informal survey of citizen sentiments in the wake of recent corruption woes, a recurring and dominant tone emerged -- why is there a deficit of human will and determination to tackle the cancerous menace at its root, with unabated momentum? Have we degenerated into a nation of moral bankruptcy where not being part of a corrupt league would relegate us to a disenfranchised minority? In a country of over 1 billion people bestowed with a democratic voice, is our collective voice so muted as to let the league of the corrupt determine the destiny of the nation and its people? When India has produced stalwarts and visionaries in the fields of technology, business, music, entertainment, sports and more, that propelled India to the world stage, surely we can do better than letting corruption become India’s Achilles’ heel.

The scale and magnitude of recent corruption scandals has put India and Indians around the globe to national shame. In the heels of ‘Incredible India’ campaigns, perhaps the need of the hour is to humanize ourselves and contribute to architecting ‘Credible India’ on the world stage. This can happen only with the participation, responsibility and empowerment of individuals and social groups which form civil society, and a leadership that truly embraces a) people’s voices as one that matters in shaping government policy priorities b) values guiding public life and the governing process itself.

On April 27-28, the India Habitat Centre, Delhi, will be a conclave of ideas and aspirations and a converging of those who wish to see and contribute to shaping, a vibrant India free from the shackles of corruption.

While the seeds for this event were sowed less than two months ago, we are grateful to those who walked with us with the faith and entrepreneurial agility that was needed to make this happen within a short planning cycle. We are delighted to have the commitment of speakers and representative voices ranging from the governing ecosystem (including young political leadership), law enforcement agencies to our rural sarpanch, civil society, domain experts from international anti-corruption agencies and more …paired with some of the most dynamic voices from media.

We trust that our coming together with a shared sensibility for change will help us evolve into a collaborative community for sustained engagement and action across all constituencies, beyond this convention. We hope you’ll walk with us and be a part of this journey!

Warmly,
The Summit Planning Team

*Transparency International is an international watchdog on corruption world-wide, with headquarters in Berlin, Germany.

*5th Pillar is a grass-roots citizens’ initiative founded with a mission to enable and empower every citizen to seek transparency and accountability in governance

According to Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index, a global survey measuring perceived levels of public sector corruption in 178 countries, India scored 3.3 on a scale of 1 (highly corrupt) to 10 (highly clean), and ranked #87 on a the list (more information here)
According to the UNODC and UNDP, corruption is a crime against democracy, development, education, environment, public health and justice (more information here)
In India, in a typical 3-hour window,

6 farmers would commit suicide…8 to 12 farmers would attempt suicide…274 farmers would quit agriculture
513 children will be malnourished
Rs. 171 crores of taxes for the rich will be written off – not counting any subsidy (translates to Rs. 500,000 crores per annum)

In 84 hungriest nations of the world, India is 67^th…. 42% of the world’s malnourished children below 5 years are in India

846 million Indians subsist on less than half a dollar/day ( ~ Rs. 20 /day)

0.00001% of India's population account for around a quarter of its trillion-dollar gross domestic product

In the recession year (2009), India added 22 ($)billionaires. There are 69 ($) billionaires in India -- three times more than ones in all the Scandinavian countries put together where standard of living is the best in the world (Forbes)

India is 134^th in UNDP’s Human Development Index. Even Bolivia (the worst off Latin American nation) is ahead.

We sincerely thank Bharath Petroleum for supporting the Summit