By DN Verma

It did not come as a surprise when India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh admitted that his government is being termed as the most corrupt ever. It was a candid yet stunning remark by the Prime Minister though was indeed a realization of the situation.

Not only the major opposition parties but a large section of the media and hundreds of millions of people all over India have termed the Congress-led UPA government as the most corrupt, ever. Not only that the Congress party's leaders and Members of Parliament and their supporters and the bulk of bureaucracy is labeled as corrupt but the coalition partners of the government have also contributed to the widespread corruption immensely.

The largest coalition partner of Congress is the DMK with 18 Lok Sabha members whose two Cabinet Ministers (A. Raja and Dayanidhi Maran) have already resigned under the heavy cloud of corruption in 2G telecom scandal. Several others are also involved and some are being investigated, charge sheeted and prosecuted.

Manmohan Singh has not yet been directly targeted but indirect allegations have been made against him. There have been acts of omission on his part and his lack of leadership in allowing scandals to mushroom. The Commonwealth Games corruption has set up records of sorts instead of setting records in sportsmanship. A senior Congress Member of Parliament for nearly three decades, Suresh Kalmadi, is in Delhi's main Tihar Jail. He is probably the richest person in Pune, a prominent city in Maharashtra.

Some scandals have been widely commented upon and criticized. The latest is telecom scandal. And that is only the tip of the iceberg.

Corruption is rampant in India and equally widespread is the fight against it. The whole country has woken up and is in some way or the other engaged in the campaign to root out this scourge. Anna Hazare and Baba Ramdev are two prominent names in this fight. Corruption is a big issue and the opposition is particularly making it a bigger one to fight the government of Sonia Gandhi-Manmohan Singh. The next elections, though a good three years away, might be fought on this important issue.

However, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has some other views on corruption. He said the other day that radical steps to root out corruption could turn the country into a Police State.

Does that mean one should go soft on corruption and the corrupt!

This is another classic statement, just like when decades back the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi said, "corruption is a worldwide phenomenon." That, kind of, gave a green signal to continue on the corrupt ways, as it's a worldwide practice. So now Manmohan Singh's latest statement would make it a fight between democracy and Police State, or Inspector Raj. So why adopt harsh measures? Let corruption continue in a thriving democracy!

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's "words of wisdom" came last week in his chat with a group of senior editors. The interaction was organized by the Prime Minister's Office to counter the growing perception that the leader is unable to communicate enough with people. That too when the government's image was getting a beating by the people and even by the judiciary! This was his fourth such interaction with the media in his current term.

Manmohan Singh started with rebutting the perception that he has been reduced to a lame duck and could be asked to make room for Rahul Gandhi, sooner than later. He was, it seemed, on the defensive most of the time as allegations and perception about him being weak were apparent and weighty. He even pleaded his inability to rein in erring Ministers and acknowledged that he was not well versed in every subject or was unable to do a wide monitoring job for all the Ministries. [It may be honest admission but does it do good to the image of the Prime Minister?]

Manmohan Singh also evaded the answer to the general perception and allegations that even when the 2G scam was unfolding and Raja was flouting the rules he failed to intervene and put a stop to whatever was going on. Even on the wrong appointment of the Central Vigilance Commissioner (Thomas) he had either ignored allegations against the official or did not give much importance to his tainted background. [Subsequently the Supreme Court had to intervene and Thomas had to resign.]

The Prime Minister made it clear that he and his government do not act on newspaper reports. The media had extensively reported about irregularities going on in preparations for Commonwealth Games and management, and 2G telecom issue. The tendency to ignore media reports or to say that those were either politically motivated, or not enough, is well known.

In his opening remarks the Prime Minister spent a lot of time on the issue of corruption and the political advantage sought by the opposition on this burning topic. That issue also prominently figured during the question-answer session. On persistent questions and remarks, the Prime Minister admitted that the telecom and Commonwealth Games scams had taken a toll on his government's reputation and has tormented the common people.

He said plainly: "Some events - like the telecom scam, the Commonwealth Games - have caused genuine concern among large classes of middle class opinion that cannot be wished away. In the situation that we are faced today, day in, day out I think we are described as the most corrupt government."

One of the editors said that though the Prime Minister's personal integrity remained untarnished, perception had grown that he had "allowed things to happen." The perception was clear that he failed to stop A Raja from indulging in the 2G scam. To this the Prime Minister's reply was that he was betrayed by the Minister, (who was later sacked.)

Singh added that as Prime Minister he had to trust his Minister when he promised to abide by rules. "How can I conduct a postmortem? I am not an expert in telecom matters. As Prime Minister, it is not that I am very knowledgeable about these matters. Or, that I can spend so much of my time to look after each and every Ministry."

The Times of India reported that Manmohan Singh did criticize Raja for wrongly claiming that he had the PM's endorsement. "One observation that my Private Secretary recorded, that the PM says that there must be transparency - the Minister should have said that it was his responsibility - rather than saying that the Prime Minister has also endorsed it." [Obviously just noting that there should be transparency doesn't mean anything if that is not enforced or overseen.]

When told that the government failed to take notice of newspaper reports about irregularities in the allocation of 2G licenses and spectrum, the Prime Minister said that he could not have gone by newspaper reports alone. "There were people on both sides writing to me. If I go by the newspapers every day, I would have to refer everything to the CBI, and the CBI would sit in judgment. And if I continued in this vein, our public sector would not be able to perform. It would greatly weaken the (entrepreneurial forces) that have unleashed, and willy-nilly install a Police Raj."

The Prime Minister even hit out at the Comptroller and Auditor General [whose reports on 2G issue and alleged favors to oil firms have embarrassed the government], for overstepping its "constitutional mandate." It has never been in the past that the CAG has held a press conference as the present CAG (Vinod Rai) has done. Never in the past has the CAG decided to comment on a policy issue. It should limit the office to the role defined in the Constitution," he observed. [Wow! The whistleblowers have no place in India ruled by a corrupt government!]

Singh said that their post facto analysis of decisions by CAG and parliamentary committees did not recognize that the government had fewer facts when decisions were made.

Manmohan Singh went on to also criticize the media for "creating the perception that his government was under siege" and for simultaneously playing "the accuser, the prosecutor and the judge." He said, "I think there is a growing perception that this government is under siege, and that we have not been able to deliver on agenda. An atmosphere has been created in the country - and this I say with all humility - the role of the media in many cases have become that of the accuser, the prosecutor and the judge." [What an argument!]

At another point during the interaction, he said sections of the media had lent an ear to the opposition's clever propaganda that his government had become a lame-duck government.

The reporting of court cases by the media also came in for criticism from the Prime Minister. He said he had discussed the issue with judges. "They (judges) say that the way press reports creates a real problem. I think everybody should exercise restraint ... press reportage causes sensationalism," he said.

The PM with a group of Editors.