Bribe buster in making | mydigitalfc.com

Bribe buster in making | mydigitalfc.com: "Bribe buster in making

By Reji John Nov 12 2009 , Mumbai
Tags: Bribe, Corruption, Entrepreneur, Ghost Busters, Entrepreneurship
What do you do when you are demanded to pay an amount in bribe
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to get a legitimate service done from government agencies? Most often, you pay the bribe and get the work done.

But Shaffi Mather, social entrepreneur and lawyer, it seems has been inspired by the 1984 science fiction comedy Ghost Busters, which was about three eccentric New York city parapsychologists who established their own paranormal exterminator service called Ghostbusters. The difference here, is that Mather is not in the business of busting demonic spirits, but in the business of busting corruption and bribery in India.

He is firming up the foundation to set up an “anti-corruption, for-profit, fee-based, BPO model enterprise” to address a target market equivalent to India’s gross domestic product (GDP). That’s a whopping one trillion plus US dollars! Even the World Bank Institute, leading the work on governance and anti-corruption, calls corruption “a large industry” and confirms the cost of corruption globally to the above figure per annum.

Are you over ambitious? “Not really. I know it is an unheard idea. But my experiences of fighting corruption so far give me the confidence in the viability of this project. We have done 42 pilot cases and managed to defeat the guilty. The cost of fighting back was far less than the amount of the bribe officials demanded,” Mather told Financial Chronicle. “The purpose is to improve transparency in big businesses and in government,” he added.

According to him, it is a “pest-control like service”. “Call it the bribe buster service! Dial in or log in, pay a fee and fight demands for bribes,” said Mather, who is spreading the word around about his new idea and inviting partners for the venture.

He is among 500 prominent leaders attending the second World Justice Forum in Vienna, Austria. He is getting tremendous support from people including technocrats offering IT services to gaming and social media experts to disgrace and honour officials caught in bribery and those refuse to take bribes. Something like a ‘hall of shame’ and ‘hall of fame’ list.

“This is not charity and not-for profit enterprise. I believe in the sustainability of profitable enterprises that can benefit all humanity,” said Mather, whose resume flaunts degrees from the best universities and B-schools. He has also had his share of corporate jobs with Reliance Industries and Essel Group.

While sceptics would call it an unrealistic and dangerous dream to chase, Mather, an advocate for transparency in contracts, has in the past managed to lock horns with big and small cases of corruption involving various government agencies and some of the biggest corporate organisations.

One of the biggest cases Mather is fighting is the ambulance contract awarded by various state governments without an open tender to Emergency Management and Research Institute (EMRI), the organisation floated by the now infamous Ramalinga Raju, founder of Satyam. In fact, a few years back, Mather also founded a 911-like emergency medical response service called Ambulance Access for All, in Mumbai, and later in a few districts in Kerala."