corruption in public life

--- On Fri, 28/9/07, nilesh kumar gaurav wrote:

From: nilesh kumar gaurav Subject: in relation to recent spate in CORRUPTION casesTo: "OPEN PAGE" Date: Friday, 28 September, 2007, 5:44 PM

CANCEROUS GROWTH OF CORRUPTION…………….CAN WE AFFORD IT?

The heart-rending but it-seems-to-be normal story of corruption (with reference to the recent spate in corruption cases such as arrest of former Director-General of Punjab police under the prevention of corruption act, arrest of former Chief Secretary of U.P by CBI, etc) underscores the ubiquitous malaise embracing the public life, be it police, bureaucracy, politics or the corporate world. So much so that even judiciary is in the dock. Public service has become a mask under which people are busy in doing their personal service.
There is a famous Hindi story titled as’ Namak Ka Daaroga’, written by the great novelist Premchand, in which a very beautiful ironical glorification of the money that comes through illegal and unethical means was made by describing the bribe as perennial stream fully capable in quenching the ever-growing thirsts of Man, where as the monthly salary was compared with the ‘full moon’ that glitters only once in a month followed by its gradual demise.
Corruption apart from generating black money also furthers deterioration in the efficiency and quality of governance of the country. The paradox relating to the mechanism of corruption is that, often, it happens to be like a symbiotic relationship between the parties involved. Plethora of examples revealing the said relation can be traced when a traffic constable allows the unscrupulous use of city-roads or a Border Security Force personnel permits the anti-national and anti-social elements to cross the border freely and fearlessly. Likewise, when an engineer connives with the contractor and allows him to do away with all the prescribed construction guidelines, codes and manuals and eventually signs the manipulated Bill Of Quantity (BOQ) and thus enables him to draw the hefty amount from the government treasury. Also, when environmental officials support the greedy industrialists in proliferating their businesses without paying the heeds to the basic environmental norms and concerns.
All the similar unholy alliances among the different interest groups are rampant in the top echelons of the governance as well. Many instances have shown some state public service commissions issuing a virtual tender for the final selections of candidates for various posts. Similarly, many times politicians and political parties prefer to be taciturn and less vociferous on the issues of public importance, which come in the way of the vested interests of the big industrial houses. Also, several defence deals have come under the shroud of some or other sorts of controversy, thus not only tarnishing the image of India abroad but also causing the demoralization to our armed forces. Much to the agony of common people, even the incidents of missing children and atrocities against Dalits have failed to sensitize the police of our country and they hardly perceive these as serious enough to register FIRs and investigate the matter thoroughly. Natural calamities such as floods, earth-quakes, etc are seen by the government officials entrusted with the responsibility to provide relief to the victims as the opportunities to siphon-off much of the funds placed at their disposal. Certainly, there is no dearth of such examples that annihilate the prospects of national development for personal gains.
PARADIGM SHIFT
Corruption has graduated to a grotesque social problem and it is no longer a personal perversion only. Many of the self –professed honest officers and politicians may simply wash their hands by claiming to be clean, but the way they abuse their official positions and capacities while pandering to their aristocratic life-styles is very much contributing in the rapid erosion of a common man in the altruistic system of governance as enshrined in our constitution. Unearthing the stinking basket of black money should be the paramount objective of the government, the vigilant media and the civil society. The system of governance should support and encourage the whistle-blower so that one cannot be victimized and sidelined by his own organization. Along with the implementation of ‘rule of law’ in its letter and spirit by evolving a swift justice delivery system, there is a profound necessity for a paradigm shift in our inner conversation too, where nationalism and fervent pursuit for the service to the nation and its people should be accorded much higher credence in today’s changing social milieu of utter materialism.


BY

NILESH KUMAR GAURAV,
B.E in CIVIL ENGINEERING
From
NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, SURAT
BATCH: 2002-2006.


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NILESH KUMAR GAURAV,
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