04-25-2006, 04:49 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Op_Ed inPioneer, 25 April 2006
<b>Corruption is security threat </b>
Abhijit Bhattacharyya
<b>The "beauty" of India is that most people here are indifferent to subjects that apparently do not affect them directly. What are these "subjects''? Don't be surprised to see the list: "Corruption, recurring death of soldiers in peace time, flight safety, national security", etc. As far as corruption is concerned, the general response is, "So what? Who is not corrupt?"</b>
Similarly, little or no reaction is heard if our soldiers die in Kashmir or the remote Northeast, as if "they are destined to die young, being in the Army!" Worse, hardly any Indian expresses anguish at the rate of death of our soldiers during peace time.
This writer firmly believes that corruption, if ignored any further, will pose the gravest threat to India's national security, endangering the unity and integrity of the country. Why does one take a pessimistic view on a subject that is not unique to India alone?
Though a "universal phenomenon", one must not forget that before 1947, India never existed as an independent nation-state for more than 1,500 years. In fact, there always existed in the body of the subcontinent the seeds of centrifugal tendencies, which for centuries made India a conglomerate of divisive elements.
Just see for yourself some of the latest facts and figures. "In just 28 years, this Government servant minted Rs 12 core." His salary is Rs 18,000 but has "10 bank accounts, Rs 70 lakh of bank and postal deposits, a storeyed commercial complex, industrial shed on 80'x60' site, two storeyed house on 30'x50', two sites of 40'x60' and one 50'x60' site" - all in an urban metro. So, what is the signal for the people of India? "Well, he got a chance, he made use of it. If I get an opportunity, I too shall do something similar?"
If Indian civil servants and civilians can run riot with their perk, pay, promotion and position, should the men-in-uniform lag behind - just to die in the bushes and jungles, ravines and gorges of the remote corners of India! Seen in this light, one is neither surprised nor shocked to find a bunch of senior Indian Naval officers leaking classified information from the war room for pecuniary benefits.
From all accounts, the action of these men-in-uniform amounts to treachery and high treason, thus calling for exemplary punishment. But that perhaps will not be the end of the story. That, in fact, should goad the nation of one million people to start a fresh story: A saga of action; a beginning of a movement to cleanse corruption from the country's bureaucracy.
<b>The canker of corruption has reached an alarming proportion, as can be seen from another case in which an Additional Superintendent of Police was found possessing six houses and three separate plots of land worth Rs five million (though his salary was mere Rs 13,000). </b>
The story percolates down further to a police inspector, a group C officer. What does India do to an inspector (with the salary of Rs 10,000) with a bank deposit of Rs 24 lakh and immovable property worth Rs 2 crore? Nothing!
And, finally, what should the one billion strong Indians do to a Secretary to the Government of India being haunted by the CBI for resorting to illegal trafficking across the border for monetary considerations? What if the same gentleman had earlier been sent to a foreign nation to look after the interests of the Government and the country? Could such person have done his job for the benefit of his country while posted abroad? Is it possible?
These were some instances gleaned from the national newspapers. Have we ever thought as to how would the men-in-uniform react to these reports, while sacrificing their lives for the country? Have Indians noticed there has been a surreptitious, but steady, erosion in the quality of professionalism among the officer cadre of the armed forces?
Why is this happening? It is very easy to brush aside the point by saying that "men-in-uniform, too, hail from the same stock, same society and same country, hence there is nothing special to take note of it if they go astray".
But is that so simple an explanation and so straight forward a solution to the problem? I certainly do not think so. In fact, if Indians fail to tackle the corruption of civil servants, it is bound to spread beyond the civilian life towards the barracks and cantonments of the Indian garrison.
These men-in-uniform may not become overtly dishonest overnight, but are likely to resort to intellectual dishonesty first, thereby affecting the safety, security and prosperity of the country. Obviously, this would be followed by the brazen acts of treachery to fulfil their petty selfish desires - as witnessed by the Naval officers' war room leak to foreign agents.
It is time the country woke up and took some tough corrective measures against corruption. Delay will prove highly damaging.
(The author is an alumnus of the National Defence College of India and the views are his own)
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<b>Corruption is security threat </b>
Abhijit Bhattacharyya
<b>The "beauty" of India is that most people here are indifferent to subjects that apparently do not affect them directly. What are these "subjects''? Don't be surprised to see the list: "Corruption, recurring death of soldiers in peace time, flight safety, national security", etc. As far as corruption is concerned, the general response is, "So what? Who is not corrupt?"</b>
Similarly, little or no reaction is heard if our soldiers die in Kashmir or the remote Northeast, as if "they are destined to die young, being in the Army!" Worse, hardly any Indian expresses anguish at the rate of death of our soldiers during peace time.
This writer firmly believes that corruption, if ignored any further, will pose the gravest threat to India's national security, endangering the unity and integrity of the country. Why does one take a pessimistic view on a subject that is not unique to India alone?
Though a "universal phenomenon", one must not forget that before 1947, India never existed as an independent nation-state for more than 1,500 years. In fact, there always existed in the body of the subcontinent the seeds of centrifugal tendencies, which for centuries made India a conglomerate of divisive elements.
Just see for yourself some of the latest facts and figures. "In just 28 years, this Government servant minted Rs 12 core." His salary is Rs 18,000 but has "10 bank accounts, Rs 70 lakh of bank and postal deposits, a storeyed commercial complex, industrial shed on 80'x60' site, two storeyed house on 30'x50', two sites of 40'x60' and one 50'x60' site" - all in an urban metro. So, what is the signal for the people of India? "Well, he got a chance, he made use of it. If I get an opportunity, I too shall do something similar?"
If Indian civil servants and civilians can run riot with their perk, pay, promotion and position, should the men-in-uniform lag behind - just to die in the bushes and jungles, ravines and gorges of the remote corners of India! Seen in this light, one is neither surprised nor shocked to find a bunch of senior Indian Naval officers leaking classified information from the war room for pecuniary benefits.
From all accounts, the action of these men-in-uniform amounts to treachery and high treason, thus calling for exemplary punishment. But that perhaps will not be the end of the story. That, in fact, should goad the nation of one million people to start a fresh story: A saga of action; a beginning of a movement to cleanse corruption from the country's bureaucracy.
<b>The canker of corruption has reached an alarming proportion, as can be seen from another case in which an Additional Superintendent of Police was found possessing six houses and three separate plots of land worth Rs five million (though his salary was mere Rs 13,000). </b>
The story percolates down further to a police inspector, a group C officer. What does India do to an inspector (with the salary of Rs 10,000) with a bank deposit of Rs 24 lakh and immovable property worth Rs 2 crore? Nothing!
And, finally, what should the one billion strong Indians do to a Secretary to the Government of India being haunted by the CBI for resorting to illegal trafficking across the border for monetary considerations? What if the same gentleman had earlier been sent to a foreign nation to look after the interests of the Government and the country? Could such person have done his job for the benefit of his country while posted abroad? Is it possible?
These were some instances gleaned from the national newspapers. Have we ever thought as to how would the men-in-uniform react to these reports, while sacrificing their lives for the country? Have Indians noticed there has been a surreptitious, but steady, erosion in the quality of professionalism among the officer cadre of the armed forces?
Why is this happening? It is very easy to brush aside the point by saying that "men-in-uniform, too, hail from the same stock, same society and same country, hence there is nothing special to take note of it if they go astray".
But is that so simple an explanation and so straight forward a solution to the problem? I certainly do not think so. In fact, if Indians fail to tackle the corruption of civil servants, it is bound to spread beyond the civilian life towards the barracks and cantonments of the Indian garrison.
These men-in-uniform may not become overtly dishonest overnight, but are likely to resort to intellectual dishonesty first, thereby affecting the safety, security and prosperity of the country. Obviously, this would be followed by the brazen acts of treachery to fulfil their petty selfish desires - as witnessed by the Naval officers' war room leak to foreign agents.
It is time the country woke up and took some tough corrective measures against corruption. Delay will prove highly damaging.
(The author is an alumnus of the National Defence College of India and the views are his own)
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