Politics of corruption pushing India into abyss
Corruption is a malaise which affects the political system of the country as whole. Jayalaitha, Karunanidhi, Chandrababu Naidu. Lalu Prasad Yadav and Mulayam Singh Yadav, all holding high public offices of chief ministers and above, have all been investi
CORRUPTION IS a malaise which affects the political system of the country as whole. Jayalaitha, Karunanidhi, Chandrababu Naidu. Lalu Prasad Yadav and Mulayam Singh Yadav, all holding high public offices of chief ministers and above, have all been investigated at some time or the other on corruption charges. However not a single politician in India has ever been found guilty beyond doubt and decisively punished. We learn from an RTI filed by a leading newspaper that governments headed by leaders of various parties have withdrawn criminal cases against 51 political leaders of various parties in the past ten years, the beneficiaries including Ministers, MLAs, former Ministers and former MLAs. In most cases the State Government withdrew cases using its power under Section 321 of the Criminal Procedure Code. What type of sick society is ours which provides powers to political parties to forgive crime just so that they continue to stay in power? The buck does not stop at the politicians alone. The Indian bureaucrats are a step ahead of the politicians. Politicians at least have accountability towards the public. The bureaucrats have none. How the politician’s and bureaucrats help each other in the sharing of the corruption pie is borne out by the fact that more than 200 senior bureaucrats across India have come under the scanner of various anti corrupting agencies but none of them can be proceeded against because various governments have not given the necessary sanction. This is really strange. When prima facie the case needs investigation or charge sheet needs to be filed why not grant the said permission?
Lot of hue and cry has been made recently of the 144 deemed Universities which were given permission to function in the UPA 1 Governments time by then Human Resource Minister Arjun Singh and have now been found unfit. Except for 44, others do not have even the basic infrastructure. Does it not amount to defrauding the young of this country and playing with their future? Why no enquiries are being made and why all those who purposely undermined the careers of the future generation of India not being punished? It this culture of you scratch my back and I will yours which is taking this country to ruin.
In other words in India the political party in power can do no wrong. One can loot as much as one can, well knowing that law will never be able to catch the culprit if he is in politics and wields power. Unfortunately the politics in India has reached this nadir at a time when India is the youngest country in the World, needing a strong leadership to guide this predominantly youth polity, lest they go hay why. Today we in India have 74 million people who are below the age of 35.This youth has its dreams, aspirations, desire and energy to better their lot as also of their country. To keep them focused we need jobs in the country which must be urgently created .For this we need large scale investments in infrastructure, agriculture and educational fields.
Most of all we need a responsive government which must make people of India feel that it cares. We need dedicated and committed politicians who live up to the basic standards of honest leadership. We need transparency in governance and upholding of law and order in the country. With the cancer of corruption at high places eating away the vitals of this country, currently all this is not possible. Needless to say the treatment of this disease has to start from the top and at the earliest.
The big fish must be caught and punished for people to see and develop faith in the Indian Democracy and our system of Governance. The lip service will not do. This will also ensure that the pseudo Robin hoods like Naxals and other terror groups who have taken to arms against Indian Constitution for the cause of the down trodden and are gaining ground in the country, will lose their support base. 39 million people of this country live below poverty line and barely get two square meals a day. This loot and scoot politics, if not brought to an end will result in these people falling in the arms of Naxal movement and other terror organizations which will then become unstoppable.
For last more than a decade the much talked about Lok Pal Bill, bringing all politicians under its ambiance, is gathering dust. No Government wants to make it a law. Time has come now that it must be implemented. All members of Parliament including Prime Minister must be included in it. The Lok Pal in Centre and Lok Ayukt in States as also the Chief Vigilance Commissioner of India and states Vigilance Commissioners must be appointed in a transparent manner. This process must be institutionalized and must be broad based. These institutions must be totally autonomous like the Election Commission of India, with various appointments having fixed tenures.
Currently the CVC of India has powers only to recommend the start of criminal proceedings against a bureaucrat. It the Government which decides whether to proceed or not .This must come to an end. Let CVC initiate the proceedings. The CBI must work under an autonomous CVC and not under Prime Ministers Secretariat. Special courts must be set up to deal with all these corruption cases and the existing laws must be simplified. Once the charge sheet has been filed, the property of the accused must be ceased till the finish of the case. All cases must be decided in six months to one year duration. Let us not procrastinate on this issue of corruption. The country is fast sliding into an anarchy mode and the rampant corruption prevalent in all sections of the society is the main cause. A country of one billion strong people can not afford a perception that their leaders are corrupt and politics is a bad word in India.
Lot of hue and cry has been made recently of the 144 deemed Universities which were given permission to function in the UPA 1 Governments time by then Human Resource Minister Arjun Singh and have now been found unfit. Except for 44, others do not have even the basic infrastructure. Does it not amount to defrauding the young of this country and playing with their future? Why no enquiries are being made and why all those who purposely undermined the careers of the future generation of India not being punished? It this culture of you scratch my back and I will yours which is taking this country to ruin.
In other words in India the political party in power can do no wrong. One can loot as much as one can, well knowing that law will never be able to catch the culprit if he is in politics and wields power. Unfortunately the politics in India has reached this nadir at a time when India is the youngest country in the World, needing a strong leadership to guide this predominantly youth polity, lest they go hay why. Today we in India have 74 million people who are below the age of 35.This youth has its dreams, aspirations, desire and energy to better their lot as also of their country. To keep them focused we need jobs in the country which must be urgently created .For this we need large scale investments in infrastructure, agriculture and educational fields.
Most of all we need a responsive government which must make people of India feel that it cares. We need dedicated and committed politicians who live up to the basic standards of honest leadership. We need transparency in governance and upholding of law and order in the country. With the cancer of corruption at high places eating away the vitals of this country, currently all this is not possible. Needless to say the treatment of this disease has to start from the top and at the earliest.
The big fish must be caught and punished for people to see and develop faith in the Indian Democracy and our system of Governance. The lip service will not do. This will also ensure that the pseudo Robin hoods like Naxals and other terror groups who have taken to arms against Indian Constitution for the cause of the down trodden and are gaining ground in the country, will lose their support base. 39 million people of this country live below poverty line and barely get two square meals a day. This loot and scoot politics, if not brought to an end will result in these people falling in the arms of Naxal movement and other terror organizations which will then become unstoppable.
For last more than a decade the much talked about Lok Pal Bill, bringing all politicians under its ambiance, is gathering dust. No Government wants to make it a law. Time has come now that it must be implemented. All members of Parliament including Prime Minister must be included in it. The Lok Pal in Centre and Lok Ayukt in States as also the Chief Vigilance Commissioner of India and states Vigilance Commissioners must be appointed in a transparent manner. This process must be institutionalized and must be broad based. These institutions must be totally autonomous like the Election Commission of India, with various appointments having fixed tenures.
Currently the CVC of India has powers only to recommend the start of criminal proceedings against a bureaucrat. It the Government which decides whether to proceed or not .This must come to an end. Let CVC initiate the proceedings. The CBI must work under an autonomous CVC and not under Prime Ministers Secretariat. Special courts must be set up to deal with all these corruption cases and the existing laws must be simplified. Once the charge sheet has been filed, the property of the accused must be ceased till the finish of the case. All cases must be decided in six months to one year duration. Let us not procrastinate on this issue of corruption. The country is fast sliding into an anarchy mode and the rampant corruption prevalent in all sections of the society is the main cause. A country of one billion strong people can not afford a perception that their leaders are corrupt and politics is a bad word in India.
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Most of the communities in India (such as Bengali), are succumbed in 'Culture of Poverty'(a theory introduced by an American anthropologist Oscar Lewis), irrespective of class or economic strata, lives in pavement or apartment. Nobody is at all ashamed of the deep-rooted corruption, decaying general quality of life, worst Politico-administrative system, weak mother language, continuous absorption of common space (mental as well as physical, both). We are becoming fathers & mothers only by self-procreation, mindlessly & blindfold. Simply depriving their(the children) fundamental rights of a decent, caring society, fearless & dignified living. Do not ever look for any other positive alternative behaviour (values) to perform human way of parenthood, i.e. deliberately co-parenting of those children those are born out of ignorance, real poverty. All of us are being driven only by the very animal instinct. If the Bengali people ever be able to bring that genuine freedom (from vicious cycle of 'poverty') in their own life/attitude, involve themselves in 'Production of Space??????(Henri Lefebvre), at least initiate a movement by heart, decent & dedicated Politics will definitely come up.
- Siddhartha Bandyopadhyay, 16/4, Girish Banerjee lane, Howrah-711101, India.
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