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BANDITS AND BACKHANDERS
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Bandits A wry, witty look at a corrupt environment,
and what it does to the natural environment. 

This 24 minute documentary by the Centre for Science and Environment will be aired on the Earth Report, a BBC World program, at the end of October.  

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It is a favourite past-time for any Indian (or anyone from a developing nation like India) to talk and moan at length about corruption. It is corruption in the government among the officials, politicians, corruption at the level of the business, trade, corruption in the system and so on...

But nobody seriously takes a look at the methodology, impact and corrective course. Corruption takes place silently. 

Essentially, corruption is degradation of values. This video takes a look at how this degradation of values translates into degradation of nature. In a corrupt system, people loose respect for things. If there is large scale corruption in the nature management sector, people loose respect for nature over a long time. And this can be a very dangerous trend.

The video takes viewers to look at irrational policies (not based on scientific understanding, but on vested interests) in management of rivers, floods, forests, urban planning and demonstrates the results of such distorted practices.

A policy to embank a river in order to tame it results in yearly flooding and death and destitution of people living by it, in Bihar.

A policy to make sandalwood a national property so that this valuable tree is saved, turns out to fuel large scale smuggling in sandalwood, criminalisation and dissapearance of the tree from southerrn part of India. The policy can neither save the tree, nor can it control the criminal activities surrounding the tree.

The video through interviews with intellectuals and decision makers try to focus on the methodolgy behind this madness.

Ultimately we meet an unassuming grassroot activist in Maharashtra to find out some solutions. Anna Hazare, a respected social activist has launched a successful and popular anti-corruption drive that has gone as far as to force ministers and officials to be transferred from their job. The core issue of his movement is the right to information. In comes down to the fact that corruption takes place in the absence of information to people.

Airing on the Earth Report of BBC World at the following times:
Day Date In India GMT
Mon Oct 23

-

2130
Tue Oct 24 0300
1100
1400
1700
2000
0530
0830
1130
1430
Wed Oct 25 0700 0130
Sat Oct 28 - 1830
Sun Oct 29 0000
1300
0730
Mon Oct 30 0900 0330
see the Earth Report website for their schedule

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