I want to be a peon!

In my school usage of the word "peon" was discouraged as this was believed to be a colonial term. We were instead asked to say "attender". Whatever may be the correct term when one thinks of a peon one does not exactly think of a person rolling in riches. However this article about peons in Madhya Pradesh seems to say otherwise. How is this possible? This, or for that matter most corruption in our country is probably because of our red tape. Also, corruption today seems to have become almost routine everywhere. Consider the following examples which I myself have faced or have heard about. These are true whether we are talking about the government, public sector or any private sector organization, whatever might be the image these organizations/companies publicly profess.

1. In a government office a certain document had to be given to a bureaucrat. The peon who worked in the office told me that he expected something for him reminding me that he was the person who had to actually hand it over physically to the babu. 

2. Ask any person from the collections department of a company if it is possible to collect dues without greasing some palms. The logic seems to be,  "I am releasing so much money for you, why should I not benefit?" The person does not seem to realize that it is not his money that is being released but that of the company he is working for.

The simplest solution for all of this seems to be to take things online and keep them open to the extent possible. Nothing is so simple, I confess, but a start has to be made somewhere. The citizens' charter proposed by Anna's team seems especially important in the context of all the red tape.

Moving on, it has been said that the verdict of the Supreme Court that Vodafone will not have to pay tax on its purchase of Hutchison's stake will encourage foreign investment in India. Whatever might be the logic behind this, in today's world where we are talking about cracking down on tax havens, I believe this is a retrograde step. When the deal involves India why can't the Indian government tax the transaction? At the same time, however, I do not like the government's argument that it has to earn money via such transactions. I am sure the government can explore more constructive ways and also reduce the colossal spend on inefficient schemes and facilities.