Jan Lokpal supporters should definitely check this out...
http://www.videobb.com/watch_video.php?v=LIpEpLFEEvjc
Its episode 20 of season 21 from the Simpsons. It is about what a draconian law might end up doing to the society. I strongly believe that a corruption free society is utopia - arent we all corrupt at some level?
It is practically impossible for a wayside tea shops and street hawkers to legally operate in our country - they survive by paying some bribes to the poorly paid cop, who lets them have a livelihood at a minor premium. If the draconian law prevents the badly paid cop from getting his cut, he will try to put the poor hawker out of business (as the law would require) and thus rob him of his livelihood, prompting him to move towards some anti-social path.
That doesnt mean that corruption isnt to be dealt with. My issue is with the sort of red tape based corruption that stifles growth to meet some government official's or politician's private benefits. A starting point to addressing corruption is not to formulate a draconian law but to design efficient systems that suggests reliable turnaround times for bureaucratic matters and incentives for the bureaucrats to stick to those turnaround times.
A renewed BSNL customer care is an example of such a system (at least my recent experience indicates so) Further, it might also be useful to compartmentalize bureaucratic activities into two (not more) - the ones that receives service requests from the people and the ones that deliver service requests to people.
Reducing the interface between the ones receiving service requests and the ones delivering services and motivating both to stick to turn around times would reduce the incentive and the propensity to engage in corruption, as the ones taking the request do not have anything to do with (ability to influence decisions) the final outcome, but they have the incentive to pass on the request quickly. That's my tuppence worth on this issue.
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