The exhortation by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to denizens of Delhi to keep their recorders and cameras in a state of readiness whenever they have an interface with a public servant with potential itchy palms is of a piece with his proclivity for dramatics and his penchant for involving the hoi polloi in everything. Officials and clerks in government offices would be on their guard, he says. They will grit their teeth and refrain from taking bribes if they're afraid of a sting. Touché! Why does he forget that CCTVs would do a better job, less expensively and less disruptively? Unless, of course, the corrupt smear CCTV cameras' lens with cement paint, like a bunch of intrepid Customs employees in Mumbai did more than a decade ago during the redoubtable Chief Vigilance Commissioner Vithal's anti-corruption drive.
Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal during his oath-taking ceremony. AFP
One has heard of citizen journalists, those who come across neglect and highlight it through a vivid camera recording, often driven by altruism or evangelism. Television channels welcome such initiatives because their correspondents and reporters cannot obviously be omnipresent and omniscient. Besides, it is one way of outsourcing content, which is any day cheaper.
The citizen who takes such an initiative feels amply rewarded for his efforts both in terms of the small financial reward that the channel might choose to give as well as in terms of the sheer satisfaction one gets by doing a large public service.
But to exhort citizens to always be armed with a spycam is quite dangerous besides amounting to buck-passing by the state. The ubiquitous cell phone at best captures still photos. It is often found wanting in quality in video recording, more so if audio too is to be captured. In any case, public offices are hardly a serene place. Amid the cacophony, much of what officials say could be lost in the din so. Poor video or audio quality might eventually bail him out. At any rate, it would be too much to expect from an ordinary mortal to whip out his cellphone when the conversation gets disagreeable. Senior citizens and children may not be able to use cellphone cameras and recorders with the felicity exhibited by others. Vulnerable people including some women may be loath to indulge in bravado in full public view both out of shyness and out of fear of quick reprisal.
The CCTV is what the doctor has ordered for public places to spot a terrorist as much as to nab an official with an itchy palm. In fact CCTVs must be de rigueur in all public places. Investment in them is much cheaper than investing in a gizmo by the common man. Remember there are still people who do not own a cellphone out of sheer poverty. Banks do not mind investing in CCTVs in their ATMs. The government too should not mind installing them in their offices. Indeed in offices it would serve a dual purpose----nabbing bribe takers as well as halting sexual harassers in their tracks. Of course there would be a need to invest in counter-intelligence to ensure that the CCTV cameras are not tinkered with so as to render them ineffectual.
The most important objection to Kejriwal's exhortation to the exhortation to the Delhi denizens is that he is trying to pass the buck. He wants people to produce evidence of harassment instead of putting in place an in-built mechanism to help them. It would be so much simpler if a harassed citizen rings up a helpline with a complaint regarding a bribe sought, backed by CCTV recording rather than by his own recording. If this trend continues, he may ask resident welfare associations to arrange for their own private security force and report to the police only if the private arrangement fails to prevent a crime.
If the idea is to inject fear in the minds of bribe seekers, as Kejriwal rationalizes his exhortation, then fool-proof CCTVs should have been the chosen instrument to instill such fear for all the above reasons and more--CCTV footage alone will stand legal scrutiny when it comes to the crunch in legal proceedings. A spy cam is innately bound to be looked at with suspicion as a device of entrapment. At least that would be the contention of the accused which would slow down legal proceedings to everyone's detriment whereas the court would always assume that a CCTV is beyond the reach of the complainant.
Both CCTVs and stinging might come a cropper when bribe taking takes place through agents. It is common knowledge that in registration offices professional fixers strut about with singular nonchalance despite the notices decrying them. Those seeking a quick end to the nightmarish rigmarole of the registration process surrender to their wile and guile. All these fixers are in fact armed with demand drafts towards registration fees which they get made in bulk in advance. The point is the officialdom would very soon change tack and sate their appetite for bribes by employing front men, as it were, for the disagreeable job away from a camera's gaze.
Online service is the ultimate solution to many of the ills plaguing the country. If papers are scanned and uploaded and fees paid through debit cards or net banking, there is no way bribes can be demanded except through delaying tactics which of course can be tackled through citizens' charter providing for rigid time frames. Kejriwal should learn from DDA which last went online when it came to conversion of flats from lease to freehold.
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