The UPA-II has created a record of sorts. Its nine-year rule has not only bequeathed the country an uncontrollable inflation of prices but also an inflation of scams. Going by their number and the amount involved, the scam inflation seems to overtake the price inflation. Counting their number and the timing, it is possible to predict that the helicopter scam, the latest in the series beginning with the 2G scam, the scam graph would keep going northward. The most significant aspect of the AgustaWestland scam is that increasingly the so-called honest-to-god ministers in this government are getting drawn into the vortex of these incidents of loot of public funds. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh barely escaped being arraigned in the 2G corruption case. Though he was aware of how the then telecom minister, from coalition partner DMK, was distributing the 2G licences, he did not act proactively to stop this loot. When coalgate burst on public discourse, Singh could barely escape being indicted. For, he was the minister-in-charge of coal mines for the brief period the mining licences were given to blade firms who dutifully passed on the papers to others who really needed the coal. The original allottees waited for years till the coal prices went up the roof before selling off or including the new comers as partners — a thinly veiled way of transferring the licences for undeclared sums. The helicopter deal has cracked the glass house of another so-called honest man — defence minister A K Antony. His series of actions from the South Block headquarters of the defence ministry expose him either as naïve or inefficient. No wonder the suspicion of some making money behind his cover of honesty, is too obvious for him to brush it aside under the general rule that the ‘matter is under investigation’. Look at this record of this honest-to-god minister. His chief of staff complains to him that a retired Lt General has visited him in his office and offered him a huge bribe to suppress the Tatra truck scandal. ‘Saint’ Antony merely listens to this complaint and then asks the general to give it in writing. The general says he is not interested in following up. What about the minister? He sits over the information and does not take any step to follow up the tip. The Tatra truck scandal nevertheless breaks out into the open. Our saint in the South Block then institutes an enquiry. It is still going on and two years later there is still no charge-sheet. What is even more intriguing is that after the Tatra truck scandal breaks out, the man who leads the government — another man reputed for his honesty — remains silent. There are scandal-after-scandal in defence purchases — the Barak missile buy, the substandard ammunition purchases and of course the heavy duty trucks scam — and the PM does not pull up any of those involved in it. Singh repeats like a long playing record the litany ‘the law will take its course’, ‘we are ready for discussion’, ‘we have nothing to hide’. Meanwhile, the public wonders why it takes years for government to act even after the first signs of a scandal appeared in print. The claim ‘we have nothing to hide’ makes people suspect the government has everything to hide the truth from coming out. The helicopter scam seems to have followed the script chapter-by-chapter like the earlier scams came out. With the difference that this time it played out in Italy — the land of scandals. Till recently Italy had a PM who owned most of the media in that country and so he could boast that he regularly runs call girl filled parties and you be damned if you raise a question. What a web of interlinked companies, cross-border buyouts, and knowing all of them are mere vessels to move unaccounted funds from country to country to avoid taxes, cover-up bribery, etc, our defence ministry buys from these very companies. AgustaWestland is an Italian company owned by a British firm with their factories in a third country and sales offices in a fourth and top management people changing positions every now and then so you do not know who is where and with what power. One of the current suspects in the deal is staying in Switzerland and is not traceable at all. The government under Manmohan Singh patronises such companies whether it is the Israeli Barack missile (Israeli company with Singapore address and US listed office) or fighter planes Mirage (French company with Belgian address and factories elsewhere). These web-like corporate structures are convenient for Singh and his government — it is easy to hide everything behind this network of intricate interconnections. Look at the firms involved in the 2G scam — some of them get big loans for the time being merely to inflate their capital to be eligible for bidding and then the loan giver takes over the allotted licence thereby circumvents the anti-monopoly provisions of the tender. The investigators are befuddled in the quagmire and cannot decide whether the buyouts were corporate investments or sweet deals. In the 2G and coalgate scams a number of new firms appeared who had no expertise about the business they were bidding for. What was the motive that prompted them to work out such webs and then enter the tender contest for supplies of goods and services? Reports from inside the defence ministry say that beyond a general rule that a bidding firm would have to declare that it has not employed any middleman, no minister since then has dared to change the fundamentals in the South Block. Nor will anybody do it. The defence ministry — going by the large number of scams rolling out of their lockers — is perceived as a sieve and anyone can pick up its secrets for the right price. It is also obvious that the political authority fails to act by imposing certain well understood rules for tendering, The nexus between the two was suspected for long; now it is a reality. The ruling party is perceived by the public as replenishing its treasury with pickings from the hordes of agents and professionals. Instead of repeating like a mantra: we are honest people, we have a PM who is known to be incorruptible, ‘we have a saint as defence minister’, etc. The PM should take tangible steps to cleanse the rot. Can a he, sans real power, do it? Your guess is as good as mine!