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Zero Rupee Notes

January 28, 2010 | RSS | EMAIL | PRINT | 4 COMMENTS

I like good ideas, and this one qualifies. In India, where corruption (and the bribery that comes along with it) are a big problem, an organization called 5th Pillar has taken to printing zero rupee notes (so far it's printed over one million of them). The basic premise is that when someone is confronted by a corrupt official for a bribe they give them the zero rupee note, allowing them to make a statement without having to say anything at all. According to the article the notes have been effective:

[Vijay] Anand [president of 5th Pillar] explained that a number of factors contribute to the success of the zero rupee notes in fighting corruption in India. First, bribery is a crime in India punishable with jail time. Corrupt officials seldom encounter resistance by ordinary people that they become scared when people have the courage to show their zero rupee notes, effectively making a strong statement condemning bribery. In addition, officials want to keep their jobs and are fearful about setting off disciplinary proceedings, not to mention risking going to jail. More importantly, Anand believes that the success of the notes lies in the willingness of the people to use them. People are willing to stand up against the practice that has become so commonplace because they are no longer afraid: first, they have nothing to lose, and secondly, they know that this initiative is being backed up by an organization--that is, they are not alone in this fight.

via The Browser // Tags: corruption, economics, ideas, india


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COMMENTS

1Akash Sharma

Fantastic concept Noah, This is a great initiative taken by this organization and would really serve the purpose, I am an Indian myself and recently we celebrated the Republic Day but there were millions of questions rising that are we really living in a democracy because the super corrupt politics has crossed the limits of everything,for an instance for the Indian Govt. to transfer a rupee to any individual in the country it costs about 7 rupees, so you can think how many people are there to eat money.
But still we are trying to learn from the individual achievements of some legendary people and looking forward to a better future.
Thanks for sharing this....

January 28, 2010

2Adam

Reminds me of the pirates' black mark:

'Black Spot - a death threat among pirates made of a black spot or mark on a scrap of paper with more specific detail sometimes written on the other side, referred to in the story, Treasure Island.'

http://www.thepiratesrealm.com/pirate%20talk.html

January 28, 2010

3Robin

Wow, why does 5th Pillar seem so badass? I guess it's mostly the name; seems explicitly subversive. It's a riff on 'the fourth column,' right? Super-weird. But I like it!

January 29, 2010

4Cerebris

Great idea. We should start using this in Africa too.

February 2, 2010