Indian charity issues worthless bank note to highlight corruption

In an effort to highlight the corruption that blights India a charity based in the South Asian country has issued a rupee banknote that has no value whatsoever.

5th Pillar, a charity which also has offices in the U.S. and Singapore, says on its website that corruption is "one of the deep rooted evils" of the Indian nation. And in an effort to fight back against that corruption, shaming officials who may already have accepted bribes or are expecting to receive them appears to be the main aim, over one million zero value rupee banknotes bearing an image of the leader of the fight for Indian independence, Mahatma Gandhi, have already been issued. The notes, that can be viewed at the 5th Pillar website and are exactly the same as standard Indian banknotes, state on the side bearing Gandhi's image Eliminate Corruption At All Levels and I Promise to Neither Accept Nor Give Bribe, and the other side declare Encourage, Enable and Empower Every Citizen of India to Eliminate Corruption at All Levels of Society. Stating that each year in India bribes worth £3 billion/$4.8 billion are paid to officials such as train ticket inspectors, police officers and civil servants - the figure quoted is said to be a conservative estimate - the Telegraph notes that registering cars and homes or arranging for the installation of a broadband connection are the types of services considered worthy of a bribe. Apparently 5th Pillar believes that some politicians in India have become billionaires due to the bribes they have received. Those bribes can be known in Southern Asia, like they are in the Middle and Near East, as Baksheesh. Full details of the circumstances leading to the production of the zero value rupee banknotes and how they were/are being used to confront corrupt Indian officials can be found at the World Bank website. However in brief the banknote was the idea of an Indian physics professor from the University of Maryland in the U.S., the professor's name and the time of his visit have not been revealed, who was sickened by the corruption he witnessed in India and wanted to give people the means to protest against the bribes they were expected to pay. 5th Pillar’s president Vijay Anand took up the professor's idea of a banknote which had no value, producing 25,000 notes initially, their popularity leading to the production of one million more notes. And officials, surprised at people suddenly challenging them instead of simply handing over a bribe and concerned that they might face disciplinary proceedings, lose their job or even go to jail, are apparently backing down. Trueslant repeats the story of one elderly woman who tried for 18 months to obtain a land title and was only successful in doing so when she handed a Revenue Department official one of the worthless bank notes. On another occasion an official in Tamil Nadu in Southern India handed back the bribe(s) he had already received upon being given one of the bank notes. The bribe(s) had been paid by an Indian citizen wanting to establish a new electricity connection. Ending with the declaration TOGETHER WE CAN ELIMINATE CORRUPTION THROUGHOUT THE WORLD 5th Pillar first offers the following advice to those who have one of the zero rupee banknotes in their possession:

The zero currency note in your country's currency is a tool to help you achieve the goal of zero corruption. The note is a way for any human being to say NO to corruption without the fear of facing an encounter with persons in authority.

Next time someone asks you for a bribe, just take your country's zero currency note and hand it to them. This will let the other person know that you refuse to give or take any money in order to perform services required by law or to give or take money to do something illegal