Government’s decision to constitute fact-finding committeesto investigate irregularities in different departments between 2010 and 2018 isa welcome step. However, many people will not like this and will create hurdlesin getting this anti-graft process to its logical conclusion. In currentmaterialistic time, whole humankind is suffering at the hands of corrupt inalmost all parts of the world. Earlier dishonesty and misdoings were deploredbut now it has not only got legitimized but intensely institutionalized.Unethical people have become powerful and command respect in society! This ishow societies get rotten and civilizations become extinct. Corruption hasentered so deep into our system that it has become a necessary evil. Anyoneintending to confront corrupt and fight against corruption must think ten timesabout the costs.
Anyways, the genesis and the matrix of corruption andnepotism is known to everybody now and defining it more elaborately will yieldnothing but disgrace. The government’s decision to choose only a fewdepartments and a particular period obviously will be a well-thought exerciseto identify the more severe instances of wrongdoings in the administrativesystem in the recent past. Though, frankly speaking, corruption in the state isnot confined to a few sections of the administration only but it is widespreadand in practice since long. The menace of corruption has severely hit theproper and peaceful survival of the common man and pace of development in thestate. A lot of people raise the issues of exploitation and try to agitate buta sizable section of the society has got so adapted to corruption they feel asif it is part of the administrative system. This is where the real andeffective intervention of the government is required. Government’s presentcleansing operation is not new, but it has been an ongoing process. Earlieralso such probes were set rolling with a lot of hope to weed out the corrupt,but it yielded nothing instead of getting only the smaller fish into the anti-corruptionnet.
Practically corruption cannot be removed overnight. Itrequires a determined and vigorous mechanism with an ability to instill fearwithin the corrupt and faith among the people. The existing anti-graftinstitutions which were at occasions weakened by the oligarchies of corrupt andtheir mentors by one way or the other must be revitalized and strengthened sothat people can use them fearlessly against the existing menace of wrongdoingin the system. The present state of these institutions may not be bad but thereis a lot of scope for improvement. The people’s movements are always moreeffective than the government’s sincere efforts, but the public energies needto have a reliable platform and credible mechanism. It should not go waste in thegarb of delays, flawed rules, and long drawn formalities. Our ancestors haverightly cast injustice in a few speaking words— ‘justice delayed is justicedenied’.
To hold the corrupt from their neck more forcefullygovernment must widen its anti-graft net far and wide. It is not only thedevelopmental departments and schemes were corruption breeds and flourishes butsome apparently softer areas within the administration have also come under theshame of corruption. The present monster of corruption behaves likedrug-resistant microorganisms and changes shape and form to become unaffectedto anti-corruption measures and laws. At present, the worst form of corruptionis favoritism against consideration as most of the times it gets unnoticed andunchecked as an erroneous act of oversight. In the corrupt practice ofpartiality stakes are very high and responsibilities very less. For the lastseveral decades’ favoritism and nepotism have given birth to a huge tribe ofnastiest and avaricious corrupt people influencing the whole mechanism ofdishonesty.
In addition to present efforts to probe wrongdoings in atimebound manner and fix responsibilities, the government should review allearlier cases through a high-powered committee to ascertain the facts. Thereare thousands of cases pending with investigation agencies which require properfollow-up for justified investigation and prosecution but the culprits one wayor the other influence the system. While on the other hand, false and frivolouscases initiated directly or indirectly by the perpetrators of corrupt practicemake many innocents to suffer at the hands of unscrupulous elements. All thecases with anti-graft bodies and commissions need to be put on fast-track sothat justice can be delivered well in time. These efforts will proveappropriate deterrents against exploitation and favoritism. The timeboundresults will encourage the activists and the whistleblowers to help thegovernment and the society to get rid of the corrupt mafia and their cronies.The robust holistic approach of discouraging corruption and multiprongedstrategy for dismantling the corrupt on proverbial pattern— ‘nip the evil inthe bud’ will certainly get the right results.