Anna lessons in UK school
Mumbai, Feb. 20: Anna Hazare's anti-corruption agitation has moved from the streets of the national capital to the curriculum of a university, but in the UK.
The activist's multiple protests will be studied in the University of Sussex as an "interesting" case that "has not failed yet but seems to be failing". The one-year course will begin in October and not more than 20 students will be allowed each year.
Dan Hough, the director of the Sussex Centre for the Study of Corruption that will conduct the course, said his own study of anti-graft movements across the world had shown that rejectionist and radical agitations were rarely effective.
Hough, who recently completed a book called Corruption, Anti-corruption and Governance, travelled across six countries — Bangladesh, Kenya, Poland, South Korea, Germany and the UK — to find out about the efforts made to curb corruption and why these failed.
"The Anna Hazare movement has not failed yet but seems to be failing and is interesting in this regard," Hough said.
"The anti-corruption movement led by him (Hazare) is absolutely fundamental and rejectionist but has been also able to raise awareness about corruption. It rejects politicians, which I am not sure is the right way since we need them in the system. It (the protests) also demanded results immediately. Anti-corruption movements need time, discipline and patience," Hough said.
He also mentioned that along with a Lokpal bill, stronger laws to encourage whistleblowers and freedom of information were needed. Simplifying a complicated tax system could also help, Hough added.
"When the topic of corruption appears in election campaigns, it is not a good sign," Hough said. He probably implied that political parties made allegations against each other to get votes but no steps were taken to tackle the problem.
"International organisations have tried anti-corruption policies but these have not worked. Corruption is difficult to define and is context-specific. We would be studying aspects like giving gifts and whether that could be seen as corruption, especially in countries like China or India," Hough said.
He said the closest he had come to defining corruption was "when a person abuses a public office for private gains", which may not necessarily be monetary. "The thing about corruption is that it thrives in the dark. We will never get rid of it as it is part of our human conditioning"¦. But it could be curbed by making the returns from such acts not worth the risks involved."
Anna lessons in UK school
