There is big news about Odisha being the least corrupt State of India. The enigmatic Naveen Patnaik's Government has always been firm on a ‘zero tolerance' approach to the malaise right from the day he occupied the loftiest executive chair. Delhi, Haryana, Gujarat, West Bengal, Kerala and Goa are in the same respectable league after Odisha.
The corruption survey was conducted by the Transparency International India, and the Local-Circles, a community social media platform to figure out the level of corruption in the country as perceived, felt and experienced by ordinary citizens. The survey also says that Rajasthan, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand and Punjab are now known to be extremely corrupt.
Two lakh respondents drawn from different sections of the society including 36 per cent women had replied to queries. More than 1.20 lakh responses were analysed for the study. Across the States, 70,000 respondents shared their views on corruption by Governments.
Fortunately, bribe incidents in India have reduced by 10 per cent over the past one year with around 51 per cent people having paid a bribe in the last 12 months. India’s ranking in the Corruption Perception Index 2018 released by the Transparency International has improved three places over the previous year. India is now 78th clean country among 180. While the introduction of systems in public services has largely reduced corruption in centralised services like securing a passport or buying a railway ticket, most citizen services at the state and local levels are still ridden with bribery and kickbacks, says the survey report.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has taken severely stringent action against corrupt officials, no matter how big. In the old times, even Indians of other regions would hardly know Odisha. Most of them believed it was like an African forestland with only tribal communities chasing animals with bows and arrows. After Independence too, the perception about Odisha has not changed much. Only, a few educated people across India knew the Jagannath Temple popular from the ancient times. Guru Nanak in the 15th century and Raja Ranjit Singh in the following one had turned devotees of the Lord believed to be a living one. So, Hindus and Sikhs across the Indian subcontinent knew Odisha because of the unique deity; others knew the State for its beautiful coastline as the temple town of Puri is on the sea.
Legendary Biju Patnaik became one of the youngest Indian Chief Ministers in the early 1960s and shot Odisha to big fame by presenting it as an important region. He set up the deepest port at Paradip, a godforsaken place then, brought several Defence establishments, set up a Sainik School and so many other eye-catching, enviable projects. He stepped down in honour of the Kamraj Plan and many of his dreams of making Odisha a foremost State remained unfulfilled.
Subsequently, a number of spineless and shaky governments came and went without being able to last a full five-year term until 1980 when Janaki Ballabh Patnaik arrived as Chief Minister. He was shrewd and knew the art of keeping everyone happy for hassle-free survival. He was of course a visionary but with a few terrible personal blemishes. Sycophants, crooks and scoundrels virtually kept sticking to him and misled him on countless fronts. His Government, doing so fine in the beginning, degenerated into one of the most corrupt regimes.
Then, Naveen Patnaik happened. He became CM in 2000. Odisha gradually began regaining the lost glory of being a clean State again. Naveen knew from the beginning that the career politicians are essentially a spoilt lot across India who exploit situations to keep power and make money by guile so as to win the next election without trouble. They first master the art and craft of abusing power and intimidating the ordinary citizens as if they are above law. Even today, in most corrupt States, ordinary legislators make senior police officials and administrators behave like slaves to them. Unfortunately, civil servants having no option left toe the line and join the looting act or leave job and run away. So, Naveen fixed the politicians first. Thus, he told the law-knowing senior bureaucrats to take complete charge. This handful of trusted lieutenants would not only guide the Government but also keep watch over erring politicians who are perpetually hungry for money and power to be used for personal gains. As time rolled by, legislators and Ministers became aware of the fact and began behaving accordingly. The bigger reason for their agreeing to be tamed was that Naveen is perceived as a messiah by the people for his simple lifestyle and gentlemanly reticence. Naveen began kicking out any Minister found guilty of taking bribe and giving undue favours to anyone. This beginning was so dramatic as to send chill down the spines of all politicians who came to power politics only to make merry.
By now, critical bureaucratic guidance is the key to governance in Odisha. And the people have liked it too well though there is quite a great deal of murmur about the State being run by bureaucrats. Ordinary citizens need to know that the Naveen regime runs on the rule of law mode which is only possible if the executive is law-conversant and understands the spirit of the Constitution. But most politicians including Ministers cannot distinguish between ‘executive and legislature' if suddenly asked to do so.
Naveen has his own likes and dislikes. His trusted lieutenants have no right to override him on his preferences. They have only the duty to figure out his vision and dreams. And then start slugging to keep the Ministers on toes by telling them what not to do. Ministers with commonsense and fundamental knowledge have a smooth sailing. The dumb ones have to keep quiet and go by what’s told by the seasoned bureaucrats. Hence, Odisha is the cleanest State today.
Odisha became the sports capital of India two years ago. It is already a great tourist destination globally. The Puri-Konark-Bhubaneswar triangle is truly a golden triangle now. The face of Puri has been lifted so magnificently as to turn the bitterest Naveen critic his ardent fan now. Not surprisingly, the national meet of Tourism Ministers and secretaries is being held on January23 and 24 at the most-talked about ‘Eco Retreat' on the marine drive near Konark. Best policies are expected to be made and contentious issues resolved jointly at the out-of-the-world facility on the sea.
Evidently, Odisha is truly the ‘best kept secret’ in India!
