Badlega India
Recently, India was ranked 118th on the World Happiness Index for the year 2015. Corruption is unbridled in the country and it has been proven to be one of the largest contributing factors of lack of contentment of Indian citizens. Among them is Vijay Anand, an NRI software engineer who is leading a silent revolution against corruption with his organisation, 5th Pillar.
5th Pillar’s ‘Zero Rupee Note’ is to be given to corrupt officials who ask for bribes, this zero rupee note can be printed by anyone.
The Zero Rupee Note has become the primary campaigning tool of the common man and over 5 lakh signatures back the power of this ‘Non-Violent Weapon of Non-Cooperation Against Corruption,’ according to their website.
5th Pillar was started to help the citizens to be more informed and empower them against corruption.
Returning to India in 2006, Vijay Anand co founded 5th Pillar, dedicated his life to improve the standard of living of citizens who could not make use of the services they had at their disposal. By spreading his vision across many schools, railway stations, bus stops, Anand has helped the Zero Rupee Note to become a strong statement against corrupt officials.
The organisation also works toward citizen welfare of the citizens and promoting better citizenship.
In addition to the Four Pillars of Democracy, viz., legislature, executive, judiciary, and press; 5th Pillar aims to be the fight against corruption. By making use of the Right To Information Act, they have solved a number of problems of citizens, which would otherwise have been very problematic for them.
One of their success stories reads as follows:
Mrs. Shanthi of Kodambakkam, Chennai District, contacted 5th Pillar Chennai informing us that she had been waiting for her widow’s pension for over three years. 5th Pillar sent an RTI application to the Egmore Thasildar in March, 2013. The Thasildar came to Mrs. Shanti’s house, inquired the details, and asked her to come to the office the next day.
Mrs. Shanti went the next day and received her pension within three days.
In this rising volcano of corruption, Vijay Anand with his 5th Pillar stands against it like a fierce storm, to make the volcano extinct.
You can visit 5th Pillar’s website and download the images for the Zero Rupee Note yourself to print and hand it to corrupt officials every time you are asked for a bribe. It is currently available in five languages: Hindi, Tamil, Kannada, Telugu, and Malayalam.
Way to go Vijay Anand!
(News sources: 5th Pillar, Quora, Wikipedia.)
