hard working and diligent,
but it is the people in
charge of the system (The
Babu's) or with whom the
power lays, that act as a
cancer spreading the
venom, slowing down
progress and what all not.
But, somewhere down the
line, we ourselves are
responsible for allowing
and being taken for a ride
by these people, aren't we?
However, it is during a
multi-thousand crore scam,
that a tax-payer actually
realizes the heartburn of
being cheated from his
valued contribution of
funds towards the
development and well-
being of the nation. But,
that's what a scam, be it
big or small, means – the
act of swindling by some
fraudulent scheme or
action.
The Top Scams in
India
1) 2G Spectrum Scam
We have had a number of
scams in India; but none
bigger than the scam
involving the process of
allocating unified access
service licenses. At the
heart of this Rs.1.76-lakh
crore worth of scam is the
former Telecom minister A
Raja– who according to
the CAG, has evaded norms
at every level as he carried
out the dubious 2G license
awards in 2008 at a throw-
away price which were
pegged at 2001 prices.
2) Commonwealth
Games Scam
Another feather in the cap
of Indian scandal list is
Commonwealth Games
loot. Yes, literally a loot!
Even before the long
awaited sporting bonanza
could see the day of light,
the grand event was
soaked in the allegations of
corruption. It is estimated
that out of Rs. 70000 crore
spent on the Games, only
half the said amount was
spent on Indian
sportspersons.
The Central Vigilance
Commission, involved in
probing the alleged
corruption in various
Commonwealth Games-
related projects, has found
discrepancies in tenders–
like payment to non-
existent parties, will-ful
delays in execution of
contracts, over-inflated
price and bungling in
purchase of equipment
through tendering – and
misappropriation of funds.
3) Telgi Scam
As they say, every scam
must have something
unique in it to make
money out of it in an
unscrupulous manner- and
Telgi scam had all the
suspense and drama that
the scandal needed to
thrive and be busted.
Abdul Karim Telgi had
mastered the art of forgery
in printing duplicate stamp
papers and sold them to
banks and other
institutions. The tentacles
of the fake stamp and
stamp paper case had
penetrated 12 states and
was estimated at a
whooping Rs. 20000 crore
plus. The Telgi clearly had a
lot of support from
government departments
that were responsible for
the production and sale of
high security stamps.
4) Satyam Scam
The scam at Satyam
Computer Services is
something that will shatter
the peace and tranquillity
of Indian investors and
shareholder community
beyond repair.Satyam is
the biggest fraud in the
corporate history to the
tune of Rs. 14000 crore.
The company's disgraced
former chairman
Ramalinga Raju kept
everyone in the dark for a
decade by fudging the
books of accounts for
several years and inflating
revenues and profit figures
of Satyam. Finally, the
company was taken over by
the Tech Mahindra which
has done wonderfully well
to revive the brand Satyam.
5) Bofors Scam
The Bofors scandal is
known as the hallmark of
Indian corruption. The
Bofors scam was a major
corruption scandal in India
in the 1980s; when the
then PM Rajiv Gandhi and
several others including a
powerful NRI family named
the Hindujas, were accused
of receiving kickbacks from
Bofors AB for winning a bid
to supply India's 155 mm
field howitzer.
The Swedish State Radio
had broadcast a startling
report about an
undercover operation
carried out by Bofors,
Sweden's biggest arms
manufacturer, whereby $16
million were allegedly paid
to members of PM Rajiv
Gandhi's Congress.
Most of all, the Bofors
scam had a strong
emotional appeal because
it was a scam related to the
defense services and India's
security interests.
6) The Fodder Scam
If you haven't heard of
Bihar's fodder scam of
1996, you might still be
able to recognize it by the
name of"Chara Ghotala ,"
as it is popularly known in
the vernacular language.
In this corruption scandal
worth Rs.900 crore, an
unholy nexus was traced
involved in fabrication of
"vast herds of fictitious
livestock" for which fodder,
medicine and animal
husbandry equipment was
supposedly procured.
7) The Hawala Scandal
The Hawala case to the
tune of $18 million bribery
scandal, which came in the
open in 1996, involved
payments allegedly
received by country's
leading politicians through
hawala brokers. From the
list of those accused also
included Lal Krishna Advani
who was then the Leader
of Opposition.
Thus, for the first time in
Indian politics, it gave a
feeling of open loot all
around the public,
involving all the major
political players being
accused of having accepted
bribes and also alleged
connections about
payments being channelled
to Hizbul Mujahideen
militants in Kashmir.
8) IPL Scam
Well, I am running out of
time and space over here.
The list of scandals in India
is just not ending and
becoming grave by every
decade. Most of us are
aware about the recent
scam in IPL and
embezzlement with respect
to bidding for various
franchisees. The scandal
already claimed the
portfolios of two big-wigs
in the form ofShashi
Tharoor and former IPL
chief Lalit Modi.
9,10) Harshad Mehta &
Ketan Parekh Stock
Market Scam
Although not corruption
scams, these have affected
many people. There is no
way that the investor
community could forget
the unfortunateRs. 4000
crore Harshad Mehta scam
and over Rs. 1000 crore
Ketan Parekh scam which
eroded the shareholders
wealth in form of big
market jolt.
So, can we live a scam-
free life in India for a
while now?
