India has to start thinking on how to address the issue of corruption from the grassroots level, said N Ram, Chairman of Kasturi & Sons Ltd.

Speaking at an interactive session on his book “Why Scams Are Here To Stay,” Ram said, “There is no such thing as political corruption as a category but misuse of political office for private gains is common.”

The meeting organised by Hyde Park and coordinated by Karri Sriram, author of Mad Nation. KT Rama Rao, Telangana IT, Industries and Commerce Minister, was a panellist and Bonthu Rammohan, Mayor of Hyderabad was the other participant.

Referring to the title of the book, Ram said, in his original manuscript, there was no mention of the word scam. However, the publishers felt the word had a better appeal and incorporated it in the title.

Mentioning about corruption as pervasive and omnipresent and in multiple forms, Ram said the degree varies depending upon where it takes place and in what form.

On political donations, Ram said efforts have been initiated to address this menace.

But, instead of making it more transparent,they have become more opaque now. Therefore, the challenge is to build collective consciousness on corruption as a menace in the society.

“In fact, political donations in some ways come through as a payback for the favours dished out to them. This is nothing but quid pro quo,” he said.

Speaking in his personal capacity, Rama Rao, who spent nearly eight years in the US, sought to highlight that even in the US, there is huge spending on elections.

He mentioned about the recent Presidential elections where more than a $1 billion was spent.

He further said lobbying was legal and lobbyists get paid to get decisions in favour of those who appoint them. In a number of instances, even Indians have engaged lobbyists, he said.