Who is not Corrupt?
CORRUPTION is as old as civilisation itself and its growth had been out of proportion. In India, most of the politicians are confirmed to be corrupt and the volumes of their corrupt enterprises are mind blowing. Chief Ministers of very small states are alleged to have walked away with two to three thousands Crores – in the larger states it is said to be a Lakh Crores. Some of our politicians have earned in three years more than what the Birlas could earn in three generations. Shanti Bhushan states before the Apex Court that judges have been corrupt. On and off the CBI books corrupt babus including some from the CBI itself and there are charges against even the CVC Chief! If corruption in Central Government is alarming, in the States, it is institutionalised and well organised. Today the only attraction for joining government service is ‘power' translated into ‘corruption'. A very senior IRS officer told me the other day, that from Day One, about twenty percent of the officers in his batch were very clear that they have joined the service only to make money – the rest acquired this wisdom over a period of thirty years! But today almost all the officers have clarity on why they are in the service and are busy from ‘day one' in making money as if there is no tomorrow. Can we stop corruption and is anybody serious about it? Technology and computerisation can curb corruption to a large extent. Now you don't bribe the postman, Railway clerk/conductor, electricity bill collector, etc, because all their operations now do not have human interference. But this is small time corruption – you can't really stop the big time corruption. The major underlying worry for the States regarding GST is whether they would lose the power – the power of corruption! And it seems even God is Corrupt – HE is very kind to the corrupt and many corrupt persons offer a share of their corrupt booty to the LORD!