A couple of years ago, Transparency International, a Berlin-based international corruption watchdog and a non-profit, non-governmental organisation committed to curbing corruption in various countries, rated violence-hit Jammu and Kashmir as the second most corrupt state in India after Bihar.
In a society where corruption is deep-rooted, no body even think of tackling this menace. Successive governments have announced war on corruption in J&K and assured to root out the menace, but nothing has been seen on ground.
only organizations entrusted with the job to curb the menace know what kind of fish they have caught other than poor clerks and patwaris. It seems that our state is corruption free. It is our government's way to fight corruption.
Rivers of corruption flow down from highest peaks of power & it is just droplets at the lowest ranks. While a clerk will be greased Rs 500, it is the Minister or Secretary who hoards by the millions or the party fund of his private one. But, when it comes to prosecution or sentence, only Patwaris, clerks or Sub inspector get the boot.
If we think over the causes & solutions to eradicate corruption from public life, concrete solutions can be arrived at if the conscience of the executive and policy making bodies is clear.
The foremost cause of corruption is that there is no fear of law in the mind. Every corrupt individual is aware that Indian memory is short term. With new scams hogging the limelight every 3 months, who remembers what, happened a year ago? Till then, the clear favorite of every corrupt individual (especially ministers) is to simply stage a drama of moral high ground and resign; if you have guts and clout you will come back with a bang.
What has made Jammu and Kashmir notorious after militancy? There could be many reasons for that, including the unaccounted funds the centre has been pumping into the state. While it must be suiting the bureaucrats, the common man definitely wants to see an end to all this corruption business. But he cannot, as he has no right to know (what is happening) in absence of proper Right to Information (RTI) Act.
The state government, during the chief ministership of Mufti Mohd Sayeed established an accountability commission in a bid to show to the people that some commission is there to check the corruption. When the commission had tried to pin down some politicians and bureaucrats, a situation was created that the chairman of the commission, justice RP Sethi (a retired Supreme Court judge) had no option but to resign. Justice Sethi is now no more. The commission, however, till date continues to be there without a chairman.
Several ministers have resigned or sacked after serious corruption charges. But it is no punishment. The crores of public money they have looted will never be recovered. They have not been even questioned.
They will come back as they have their political base and political patronage. So who will make investigation against them so that they can be punished? Government agencies like vigilance organization and CBI are reduced to toothless tigers, which only follow the instructions of their masters, who ever the masters may be.
Political interests override moral responsibilities and official obligations. The Government goes about announcing it’s determination to eradicate corruption from public life but acts just opposite and shields corrupts & corruption.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah is raising tall claims to eradicate this menace but how can he root-out the corruption from a state where there is no authority of accountability commission or no acts of RTI are in vogue?
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