Renowned Financial Management Expert Professor M.R. Kumara Swamy Provides an Unique and Novel Definition of Corruption Under Clerkocracy

Abstract

At all levels of governance under clerkocracy -- of clerks, by clerks and for clerks (a term introduced for the first time by M. R. Kumara Swamy, “Clerkocracy in India”, InterEconomics: 1968 and “Some remarks on clerkocracy in India”, Il Politico: 1968) referring to decisions taken by : (i) Senior bureaucrats/ clerks (dignified, gazetted ranked, educated holding high responsibility in the top echelon of government referred to as government secretaries, often motivated by political considerations); (ii) Junior level clerks (less educated, non-gazetted ranked and who perform all the required spade works for onward transmission to, (iii) Higher level groups in the categories of superintendent, under secretary, deputy secretary and joint secretary who constitute the highly productive group -- corruption of different forms is rampant.

Corruption as uniquely classified by the author as : (i) Democratic Corruption, referring to illegal payment by the people, of the people and for the people; (ii) Hierarchical/Anarchical Corruption, relating to top bribery which must be compulsorily paid to get - political party-interested-cum-social utility - work, devoid of prudent financial management considerations, accomplished/executed with the blessings of the political party (government) in power through the chain of middlemen (who may not belong to any political party) acting as agents, money laundering, fraud and allied issues are important issues and which have caused government collapse/instability, have received scanty analytical treatment by financial economists. Professor Kumara Swamy analyses these critical financial management issues with a view to come out with meaningful solutions to check these menacing problems of business(corporate, government, etc.) indiscipline (due to greed which has brought about the worst economic-cum-financial collapse since the World Depression of 1929), by imbibing ethical values in human beings by resorting to spiritual leadership as any reform must come from heart (within conscience) and not by acts/legislations.

Keywords: Corruption, Clerkocracy, Financial indiscipline, Spiritual Leadership

JEL Classification: E65, G21, M14