In theory, the UN’s Convention Against Corruption is a good idea. But in practice it is more a paper threat than a real one for governments and political parties that adopt corrupt practices. The only way total transparency and accountability of governments and political parties can be ensured is by banning currency circulation and putting all transactions of all individuals and organisations including governments,ÿcorporates and political parties, on the web for anyone and everyone to see. A paperless communication and tracking solution in every organisation is a must for ensuring transparency and accountability. — Kris Dev On e-mail Nothing new • UK and US government trapping those who cannot afford to hire expensive legal teams is not something new. If the Congress Party claims that no notice was served, then the media should not laugh this off. As a UK resident, I am well aware of the criminality of such processes. — Ashok Mahajan London Natwar, scapegoat? • Apropos of ‘Govt moves, Natwar unmoved’, (IE, November 7), Natwar Singh should not resign. If the Congress Party, which too is named in the Volcker Report, does not resign from the UPA government, why should Natwar? The party is making him a scapegoat to save itself from attack. — Devendra Narain New Delhi Oily goings-on • The revelation by the Volcker Commission about the rampant squandering of the resources meant for the ‘Oil-for-food’ programme in Iraq is nothing new. Corruption is inherent in the financial dealings of almost all United Nations-related organisations. This latest ‘oily’ scam reminds one of the famous story by Russian writer Leo Tolstoy, ‘How much land does a man need?’ Now the question needs to be posed as: How much wealth does a man need? — AbdulRuff Colachal New Delhi Brave new world • Plaudits to Team India for their present good performance (‘The smile’s back’, IE, November 4). For the first time in India’s cricket history we are seeing new experiments in the batting order in every match. The coach Greg Chappell is proving his professionalism, while Rahul Dravid is proving his talent as a team leader, and also as a good batsman without any burden of captaincy. Last, but not the least, the selectors have also taken many hard steps, like not including Sourav Ganguly, Venugopal Rao and J.P. Yadav. In future selectors should always take such hard steps, keeping in mind the requirements of preparing for the 2007 World Cup. — Mohd. Mudassir Alam Gurgaon Right approach • It is good that our honourable finance minister, P. Chidambaram, filed his income tax return personally. If our politicians wish to minimise harassment and corruption in public offices, they must frequently visit these departments in the guise of the common man. They should personally check the malpractices, corruption, misbehaviour, and rudeness of the staff, and take suitable action against errant employees of public offices. — Mahesh Kumar New Delhi
