The Corruption Menace....

India is one of the developing nations of the modern world, our democracy has many feathers in her cap. More than a half century ago it has became an independent country and a republic. During this period the country has been engaged in efforts to attain development and growth in various areas such as "building infrastructure", "production of food grains", "science n technology" and "spread of education". However, as a developing nation, India has observed endless social problems, one leading to the other. Some of these problems have their roots in our colonial past while others are related to demographic changes, socio-political conditions and cultural processes. However, every social problem is inter-related but for me one major social problem is corruption and it is the sole cause of many other social problems. If this is not dealt at an earliest, it will lead to many other social issues as well and will continue to be a hindrance in development of the country.

In fact the word “corruption” has become so popular in the present Indian society that even a totally illiterate person, having no knowledge of English alphabets or exact meaning of the word “corruption”, is seen talking about this dangerous disease and utter out this word with utmost ease and accurate pronunciation. Actually, India, the world’s largest and most stable democracy is worst affected by the menace of corruption. In such a large country with a population of over 120 crore belonging to various religions, the corruption has spread so widely in almost every sphere of life that in fact corruption has become a part of our national culture. 

Our nation has vested the power in the individual and he has left no stone unturned in order to get rich quickly. The politician, the bureaucrat, the government employee, the businessman, who are the vital units of the national family, have contributed in the spread of the corruption menace. Corruption is now prevalent at all the levels of industry, business n administration and an essential part of the national economic fabric.

According to am estimate, if the funds earned due to corruption were to be circulated in the national economy, India would not have to look for foreign aid for many years to come. Our growth would be tremendous in all the spheres and we would be an "independent economy entity" within a short time period. In fact the black market economy, corrupt bureaucrat, industrial malpractices and dishonesty in administration have led to the generation of a parallel economy whose magnitude is much larger than our national budget.

We walk into any office of the Municipal Corporation, provident Fund, Electricity Board or any department run by the central or State governments, we know that the clerk must be handled with utmost care otherwise our work would be delayed. So, we grease the palms of the staff from top to bottom and get our work done. Police, Courts, land development authorities and other government institutions are operating on the basis of give n take.

The politician-bureaucrat-criminal nexus has sucked the hard-earned money of the masses and has made a mockery of the national economics system. The fruits of labour of over fifty years have not reached our rural areas. We remain one of the poorest nations of the world due to corruption that prevails at all the level of our society.

No need to say that corruption is omnipresent and its detection and sentence for the wrong-doers is seldom decided due to loopholes in our legal framework. Though the change in attitude of every individual who have rags-to-riches tendency and earning money without hard work is the first thing which needs to be changed. There can be many other solutions to check the corruption and some of them are....

1 : An individual initiates corruption by giving bribes to the bureaucrats and public servants. He must stop giving bribes and should warn the corrupt officials that if his objectives were not met(without paying bribes) he would go for legal actions against them.

2 : There must be strict laws so that only honest n nationalist politicians should be allowed to contest elections and any politician with dubious record of scams and floor-crossing should be barred from taking part in the elections.

3 : The salaries of police and government employees must be raised to respectable levels so that they are not forced to make money by unfair means just to satisfy their basic needs.

4 :  The bureaucracy must shed five vowels......

      Apathy

      Evasiveness

      Incompetence

      Obscurantism

      Urge for power n money

5 : Every Indian should try to adopt three Cs........

     Commitment

     Consistency

     Competence

6 : Disclosure of wealth, administrative ethics and a positive attitude towards public at large must be the guiding gospels of every public servant.

7 : The agencies like CBI should monitor the corrupt politicians and businessmen. At the same time these agencies should not move according to the whims of the power-hungry and manipulative politicians.

8 : The scars of red tape, black money and corruption on our tricolour can be wiped out only by our youth. Hence they must form a forum to check the corrupt practices that have inflicted great economic and social losses upon our nation.

9 : The institution of Lokayukta in the States and Lok Pal in the centre is a step which can curb corruption but these institutions are needed to be made more powerful n more effective by amending the present act.

Above all our social ethos must be modified in order to promote good moral values. India must do away with much of her past and corruption at all levels must be eliminated as the very first initiative in this direction.

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