To make him break his resolve to fast unto death, he wants an assurance from the government for time-bound, concrete measures to check corruption. Last month, he wrote a letter to the prime minister on the issue.

'We want that a Lok Pal (parliamentary ombudsman) be appointed to fight corruption. The Congress in its manifesto had promised to take up the issue,' he said.

'Corruption accentuates poverty, aggravates economic disparity, thwarts development, undermines democracy and, what is worst, destroys the moral fibre of the nation,' he said.

His worries are not misplaced.

Corruption has spawned a virtual parallel economy in India. Even Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, a rare 'Mr Clean' among politicians, has pledged to root it out.

According to the Berlin-based watchdog Transparency International, India figures 85th among 180 countries in the corruption perception index - a shame for the world's largest democracy.

A Transparency International survey backed by the Centre for Media Studies (CMS) says people cough up a whopping Rs.8,830 million ($176 million) in bribes in rural India alone to avail of governmental services.

'We need political will to fight corruption, not men or arms,' said Dutta. 'This is the war we have to win,' said a resolute Dutta.

(Sarwar Kashani can be contacted at s.kashani@ians.in)