What I had sought to raise was that his alliance had set a time limit of one month for action in Bofors guns inquiry and no progress had been made. He denied that. His reply was: "While the importance of the matter cannot be over-emphasised, I may point that the National Agenda for Governance which guides principles and policies of the government does not include any such specific time frame."

Subsequently, in an interview, he told me that the inquiry was going on but Rajiv Gandhi's name was not there. The evidence collected so far was weak for a court case. This is surprising because the general impression is that thereis enough proof to proceed and that the successive governments have dragged their feet. The BJP is particularly suspect because its leaders are close to one of the recipients of the kickbacks, a foreign-based business house, which is said to be implicated in one of the cases.

There is also a lurking suspicion that Congress president Sonia Gandhi has not tried to pull down the BJP-led coalition because of its undertaking that the Bofors kickbacks scandal will not be uncovered. A quid pro quo is difficult to imagine. Still there is no running away from the fact that the CBI has had enough time even to set the Jamuna on fire. Names of payees are there and in some cases even account numbers.

The lack of evidence was also the reason why the hawala case against Home Minister L.K. Advani and a few others collapsed in a Delhi court. The entries in the diary seized from the Jain farmhouse required some corroboration. The CBI had failed to provide one. In fact, the Supreme Court took the agency to task for nothaving moved against the recipients of the hawala bounty on the basis of disproportionate wealth if the other evidence was not forthcoming.

The failure of the CBI, as is apparent from the Bofors scandal and the hawala case, does not mean that it is the end of the matter. The government has to satisfy the hunger for justice. Had the working of the agency been transparent, things wouldn't have come to such a pass. The Shah Commission, which went into the misdeeds of the Emergency more than 20 years ago, had suggested openness in the working of the CBI. But no government, whatever its claims on cleanliness, has even considered the proposal.

It is understandable that the CBI cannot go the whole hog against ministers and officials when it is a department of the government. But what is surprising is that even the report by the joint parliamentary committee on the Rs 9,000-crore bank scam has remained unimplemented.

Most of the Narasimha Rao government's ministers were found guilty. So were top officials.Parliament debated the report. Still nothing came out of the exercise. Political considerations weighed with the then government, which decided not to take any action against those involved. Successive governments have not pursued the matter. Was there a conspiracy, a compromise or sheer concealment?

I do not think that the BJP is serious about fighting corruption. When Vajpayee assumed office, he directed all ministers to declare their assets. Have they? I have vainly tried to find if the declarations have been made. Had it been so, the information would have been available to the public. Again, I wrote to Vajpayee soon after the BJP-led government was sworn in to express my horror over the transfer of officers looking into the cases of income tax relating to AIADMK chief J. Jayalalitha. I pointed out that it was a mala fide and high-handed action, which "people did not expect from him." He did not even acknowledge the letter.

The fact is that corruption has ceased to be news in India. Nor does it makepeople sit up. It is one of those things India cannot live with but knows no way to live without. These past few years, the country has been a land of scams and scandals: political chicanery, diary entries, defence weapons kickbacks and mysterious bank accounts. Leaving aside two or three state chief ministers, the rest have fingers in the till.

Since 1989 the Centre has been ruled by the Congress, the Janata Dal, the Congress, again the Janata Dal and the BJP. Some 500 MPs have been in different council of ministers. Only five percent of them have been without a taint of corruption. If sons and sons-in-law of theirs and those of chief ministers were to be included, the figure would be high.

Corruption at political level may well be the reason why the bureaucracy is steeped in dishonesty. Clean officers, both at the Centre and in the states, can be counted on fingers. At the lower level, corruption is so prevalent that it is difficult to spot any one who is above board. As eminent social worker AnnaHazare says, "planned corruption in various projects undertaken by the government has deteriorated the quality of work."

Yet if the nation has to retrieve the values, a clean society is a must. There have to be exposures and loud public protests. A people's movement has to be built, not by political parties but by those who are outside the system and enjoy credibility. Perhaps the functioning of the government be taken up first. Every instance of corruption should be brought to the notice of MPs or MLAs who are clean in the eyes of the people. Another outlet can be newspapers but the allegation must be supported by authentic evidence.

The statutory body of Central Vigilance Commission, already announced by the Centre, may prove to be a disaster because officers, who are apt only in pushing files, will seek security by doing less and deciding far less. In any case, IAS cadre rules make it difficult for the commission and the CBI to do much because they have to be tried by two IAS officers, one on thechoice of the person against whom action is initiated. The appointment of Bhure Lal to the Vigilance Commission sustains hope. But can he do everything singlehandedly?