Encouraging is the news that the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) Jammu and Kashmir booked officials, former Vice Chairman JDA for ‘ illegally approved IT Park construction’. This same Bureau on January 5 caught two government officials for demanding and accepting a bribe; later a scientist was reportedly caught red handed in indulging in the same act. These incidents indicate that the flames of corruption are refusing to weed out. The ACB deserves appreciation for bringing to book these public servants — read the public serpents. Outstanding work by the ACB. More needs to be done.
Punishing the corrupt hands and disciplining them towards playing a noble and clean handed role in their service to public, is a bounden duty of every government; but to demolish the wall of corruption, the key is to address its deep seated causes. One such cause is the greed of amassing wealth and property — at the expense of public good and public opinion.
Cause two is the crying need chiefly by those lower rung officials whose monthly income falls short of their cost of living. Indeed, no justification can suffice to escape the rulebook for indulging in the wrong doing. However, these officials are known to fleece public under this and that excuse.
Notably, there is no quick- fix solution to eliminate the two above-said causes of corruption. Human greed and need can be prevented from getting out of hand through checks and regulations and channelizing them in the right direction.
Plus, right steps are imperative for improving the financial position of the lower rung officials in line with the cost of living. The extortion of money and blackmailing — the two major forms of corruption though not JK specific — raise their ugly heads when conviction rate of the corrupt people declines. It never portends good for the victim general public.
Consequently, the wrongdoers enjoy a field day and ironically receive a dose of encouragement for escaping notice and the long hands of the law. A silver lining has come in the shape of the ACB having displayed guts and wits to catch the two guilty officials. Corruption and certain other shady practices recently have ended up in the cancellation of many selection processes. This obviously has led the youth to unnecessary stress and frustration and other mental health issues.
Worse, it has damaged the reputation of the institutions tasked to honour merit. Can we work with integrity to respect merit and ensure good mental health of the job seekers? We do have strict laws which require officials to refrain from the illegal earnings; the ground realities are different though.
Despite strict instructions and repeated reminders from the government against the malpractices, the corrupt officials believe that it is their right to earn extra income in meeting the public needs. Speedy conviction could be a deterrent.
An unscrupulous official seems to have become soulless and heartless, preventing him/ her from feeling the pain which the illegal act inflicts upon the affected person through delaying tactics, excuses, arrogance, bribe- demand and indiscipline in doing duty. All that the official prioritizes is his/ her own comfort, benefit, dignity and family.
Corruption destroys economy. Corruption destroys public trust. Corruption destroys work ethics and work culture. It causes uncertainty and blocks developmental works. National Crime Records Bureau data places J&K second in the corruption index and in the UT, 90 percent people accused of corruption are acquitted with no strong action taken against them.
According to the data by the J&K State Vigilance Organization, from 2013 to Dec 2016, about 172 cases of FIR were registered and 151 cases are still under investigation with no conclusion and cases are going at low speed and many are await justice.
In About 95 percent cases, complaints were filed against low rank officials for their getting bribe of Rs 1000 to Rs 5000. Not a single case was filed against top ranking officials who have been corrupting the system. A big reason is power of the official or justice not done if the case is filed against him/her.
Although, various plans and programmes are launched to meet the needs and wants of the people, many of them do not achieve their intended aims. Plans and projects are often left incomplete or undone. In such a state of affairs, the values like justice, equality and the rule of law just remain lip service. Relevance they lose. Remarkably, civilized societies punish the selfish and abusers of others and reward those who serve, cooperate and help without seeking anything in return.
What is tragic is that children learn from the behavior of their elders that only the self matters. They grow up with the learning that they simply have to feather their own nests and fulfill their own interests with no regard for others’ interests and welfare. We see this negative attitude of the citizens in the wasting of resources, say, water, power and food. We see it on roads in the form of bad driving, bad parking and rash behavior.
The attitude gets promoted when laws are not applied strictly, not observed properly or not used justly. To combat corruption, no government keeps a magic wand. People need to discourage it.
Religions, media, educational institutions have to lead from the front. Laws and regulations need to be applied strictly, properly and justly. Clean handed people should be rewarded and corrupt people be punished. Moreover, it must be admitted that only laws cannot stop corruption and its varied forms. Social support can play a key role in stopping the offense, a social sin.
Addressing income inequalities, pay anomalies ; ensuring fair distribution of national income and ensuring that no big fish slips through the wide anti-corruption net — all can potentially shake the foundations of the corrupt ecosystem.
(Author is RK columnist and teacher by profession. Feedback: [email protected])
