At 11 am on Tuesday, August 16th, over 4000 men and women across 20 states in India – all staff of Ujjivan – gathered outside their respective offices/branches and recited the national anthem, reiterating their solidarity in the fight against corruption.

It was a small token gesture on our part.  However, we all know that the poor are most affected by corruption. The number of poverty alleviation programs of governments & NGOs and the vast amounts that are spent on these programs do not reach the poor, being eroded by corruption. The poor people’s life is severely impacted on a day to day basis by corruption whether it is procuring basic necessities at ration shops, getting bank loans, claiming insurance, or while interacting with police and government authorities.  

Managing Director, Samit Ghosh says, “Even some MFIs have ended up more as a vehicle to enrich the promoters and senior management rather than serving the poor. We also face this problem in the field when customers are forced to pay commission to get MFI loans. Hence fighting against corruption is an integral part of our battle against poverty alleviation”.

He further added, “Anna Hazare’s movement for Jan Lokpal may not be magic bullet but it is in the right direction. Fighting corruption will require more comprehensive discussions, strict laws, enforcement mechanisms etc., but it is the right start. The present government has possibly done more than others in the past by putting the ex-ministers and senior politicians in jail on corruption issues, but the way it is has approached the Lokpal Bill it seems that they would like to encourage status quo. The way they dealt with Anna exposed their intent.”

Ujjivan has chalked out a couple of action points:

• Support and encourage our staff & customers who want join this fight against corruption
• Educate our field staff on the present movement against corruption and encourage them to communicate it in the centre meetings
• Open up communication channels between field staff and senior management on the issue of corruption and encourage ideas in helping fight this disease