The builder who refused to bribe

My father spent his lifes savings to buy a house on a marsh for all of us to live in According to the unwritten law of the corrupt city of Mumbai you had to pay 40 per cent of the unstated price of the house in untraceable hard cash The money would not be acknowledged by receipt and would never be spoken of again It would have disappeared into the black hole of the builders pocket forever to reemerge in a universe of black moneyAs the eldest it was for me to carry the cash from Worli where we lived to Andheri where the builders office was After much discussion regarding the best way to carry so much cash mdash including a briefcase chained to my wrist mdash my pragmatic mother suggested that the most innocuous way would be a large everyday plastic bag the kind you got when grocery shoppingAt the builders Andheri office where a crowd of other nervous cashcarrying people stood around I was asked to deposit my loot on the floor along a wall next to scores of bags stuffed pillowcases and suitcases I was surprised at how little space one mans life savings could take upI have always believed that you could not be a builder in Mumbai without being utterly corrupt as well Like everyone else I accepted this as a part of Mumbais gothic realityUntil I came upon the story of Alacrity Housing the construction company that is legendary for never having paid or taken a bribe Ever And building solid sturdy highquality houses at a fraction of the going market priceAmol Karnad who founded Alacrity Foundation in 1978 could be a character from a novel by Ayn Rand a writer he was much inspired by He actually believed that personal dignity and integrity were key to spiritual progress in life and that both traits should be fully expressed in the workplace A client then thought Alacrity was a company of smart young people with ideas but really quite impracticalWhen Alacrity started building houses in Chennai in the early 1980s the Indian construction industry was so rotten that giving bribes to obtain licences and noobjection certificates was the unquestioned norm All transactions had a black side underthetable black money paid in addition to the stated priceKarnad believed Alacrity could thrive without diving into the swamp of corruption They refused to pay a single paisa as bribe though it meant a period of losses Their commitment to clean dealing remained unshakenIt took Alacrity a few lossmaking years to establish themselves as a company that would not pay bribes under any circumstances even if it meant waiting in line longer than othersThings changed when Alacrity released a fullpage advertisement in 1992 with the headline It pays to be honest The ad named seven government departments that had not taken bribes while issuing permissions to Alacrity mdash 200 planning and building permits 1100 sewerage drainage water and electricity connections more than 100 noobjection certificates and 1500 sale deed registrationsA second ad listed landowners who had sold their properties to Alacrity without asking for any black money and a third listed all flat buyers who had paid for their flats with only white moneyThose we mentioned in the ads became our supporters in clean dealings says Indukanth Ragade vice president of Alacrity in those daysEven though Alacrity posted net losses in its first few years mdash R42 lakh in its first year and over R32 crore in 1992 mdash their costs of building a house were lower than others because they never paid bribes Their houses were economical to buy at about twothirds the prevailing market price striking a balance between a healthy return on investment and a fair and affordable price The material was of higher quality and the construction work more professional Over time the business turned aroundAlacrity offered customers benefits no one else could mdash a oneyear warranty and aftersales service including free maintenance for the first year On principle Alacrity refused to pass on price overruns and increased costs to its customers The price they paid was exactly what the contract said If construction was delayed Alacrity paid the rent for alternative housing while they waitedWhat makes a valuesdriven company succeed in a corrupt market The answer is surprising unexpected Alacrity believes that people are fundamentally decent even the supposedly corrupt bureaucrats it had to deal withIndukanth says Bribes rob people of their dignity and selfrespect When we deal with someone honestly although we face difficulties at first eventually we are the winners and so are they because they feel good about themselves People dont really want to take bribesHere viewed from there C Y Gopinath in Bangkok throws unique light and shadows on Mumbai the city that raised him You can reach him at cygopigmailcom Send your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomThe views expressed in this column are the individuals and dont represent those of the paperCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and also a 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