The sudden resignation of the lokayukta of Karnataka, N. Santosh Hegde, reaffirms what repeated international surveys, murders in cold blood and suicides in desperation have proved — corruption in India has become endemic. That in itself may not be news, particularly to Mr Hegde who has so long been almost a one-man army against corrupt public servants in his state and has believed that corruption may not be eradicated but be controlled. The fact that Mr Hegde has decided to hang up his boots perhaps suggests a defeat of that belief too. As reason for his resignation, the Karnataka lokayukta has pointed to the consistent non-cooperation of the government and even hinted at its negative role in protecting and furthering the interests of the corrupt. His dependence on the executive for the performance of his duties is a condition made unavoidable by the legislation governing his post. It restricts the role of the lokayukta in the states (and of the lok pal at the Centre) to the conducting of inquiries and making of recommendations to the respective governments for action. In other words, without the munificence of the executive, the lokayukta is a toothless tiger. And that is what the intricate network of the corrupt in Karnataka —linked through extensive ties of patronage, loyalty and kinship that control the institutions through which governance is dispensed and political power exercised — has made sure Mr Hegde turned out to be.

One would have thought that the lawmakers of today would be able to see this reality more clearly than those of the 1960s, when the administrative reforms commission pushed for the creation of the role of the ombudsmen. Unfortunately, vested interests have made this impossible. This is perhaps why Parliament is yet to pass the lok pal bill more than 40 years after it was formulated. There is no doubt that laws alone cannot be the cure for all maladies. India already has a Prevention of Corruption Act and is even thinking of a public interest disclosure and protection of informers bill. What is required is political will and, perhaps more importantly, the empowerment of the public to secure that. An amended Right to Information Act may go a long way in making this happen. So may empowered lokayuktas in states who enable the people to keep a tab on the public representatives they choose to serve them.