Set a deterrent for others

A fresh wave of hope has been generated with increased intervention by the government to tackle the menace of corruption in the union territory. Many a time, the Honorable LG Manoj Sinha reiterated the fact that the Govt of J&K has adopted a policy of zero tolerance on corruption. It is a fact that corruption emerged as a major public concern in Jammu and Kashmir due to lack of transparency in the government departments previously. Successive regimes became habitual of declaring war against corruption, but delivering little on ground. As long as rampant corruption goes on, governance cannot be effective. If the government is to provide good governance and deal effectively with the problems and challenges of any nature, it is important to ensure complete accountability in functioning at all levels of the Executive. Corrupt elements need to be identified and removed. Unfortunately, some officials have been sitting with their eyes, ears and mouths shut to the corruption and nepotism around them. It is indeed not good enough to trap somebody taking a few thousand rupees when somebody taking lakhs has been let scot free. The influential persons, who were caught taking bribes used to enjoy virtual immunity, but not anymore. If the government is serious in tackling corruption, it has to ensure that no culprit, howsoever influential, is spared. The governments from time to time reiterated the need for adopting transparency in the administration for weeding out corruption from the UT. It was the failure of previous governments to tackle rampant corruption that it has become institutionalized in many respects.  It has almost become a requisite for getting a piece of work done in government offices. There is a sort of inertia that has crept into the offices where nothing moves till there are some illegal gratifications to be made. The governments earlier made tall claims about good governance, but it is impossible to think of good or clean governance if corruption remains rampant. The government today has the opportunity to reform the administrative system so that the corrupt elements are isolated. By acting tough against corrupt officials, the Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha can set a deterrent for others. While people too cannot absolve themselves of the responsibility to discourage bribery, the buck starts and stops at the government. True, corruption cannot be eradicated through magic wand overnight, but it can be substantially minimized by adopting transparency in the administration. For cleaning up the system it is also necessary to ensure that the various statutory bodies and commissions are manned by people known for their competence and integrity.