National
Coordinator of
VOTEINDIA movement
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Reforms
can end Corruption
01-June-2002
Like
the summer heat of India, bribery is something which most
of us have come to accept as part of being Indian. And just
as in the case of the weather, many of us talk at length but
do nothing about it because we think that it is a doomed fight
anyway. We haven't even given it a try. And what is worse,
for every one person making that extra effort, there are hundreds
actively discouraging from the sidelines. Every one of us
should shun the company of such cynics with as much dread
and aversion as we would a plague. Show me a single cynical
achiever! But then, nor can mere drawing room talk about the
all-pervasive corruption bring about a change. Action alone
is the solution and the thought of possible failure should
not be a deterrent. We have to remember that in attempting
great things even failure is great and there is nothing to
be ashamed of.
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Recently
LOK SATTA had been informed that a certain professor in the
Osmania Medical College had been charging the final year medical
students an amount of Rs.7,500/- to avoid failure or to ensure
a pass in the upcoming examinations. One of the relatives
of a bribe giver directly reported to us that about 80 students
had given the money and something should be done about it.
We immediately contacted Dr Anji Reddy, the Director General
of Health Services and Mr Mohanty, The Director General of
ACB. Both acted promptly. Mr Mohanty trapped two examiners
and caught them in the act of taking bribes. Doing a little
sleuthing himself, Dr Reddy found that the figure of 80 given
by us was inaccurate and that the number of students who paid
was actually 95 in all. He immediately ensured that the professor
was removed as examiner pending further action.
Dr
Reddy and Mr Mohanty could have very easily heard and kept
quiet saying to themselves, 'why should I bother - anyhow
not much action can be taken against this person, besides
there are so many others in every field doing the same thing
or worse'. 'If this chap is well connected, I might end up
being penalized'. A very typical reaction of most people who
are in positions of authority. Fortunately for us, both Dr
Reddy and Mr Mohanty are among the few who are more interested
in doing a good job rather than just keeping the job and hence
were not afraid of any possible ramifications. We do not have
too many such individuals who are both honest and courageous.
Not everyone is willing to be proactive or capable of being
so. Doing the right thing in our present environment requires
effort, and why go through all that effort? We need to create
an environment where more people in authority are able to
stand up and do the right thing. The sad part of this story
is over a hundred medicos gave a signed petition asking for
the erring professor to be retained as examiner. With the
menace of corruption being the staple of most discussion what
prompted these bright youngsters to come up with such a request?
I wonder!
We cannot afford to tolerate deep-rooted corruption even in
areas like examinations, judiciary, recruitments and crime
investigation. Neither should we expect people to keep performing
heroic acts everyday. Corruption is not the disease. It is
only a symptom of the failure of the governance process. This
is why working for reforms is so important and so urgent.
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