Slums in Golden Shelter

“The war against corruption is today largely waged by a few isolated individuals, select citizen groups, a sprinkling of committed officers and the judiciary,” it said.
the whole system seems to be corrupt and the people who are the main strength of a nation are becoming permissive of corruption. Politicians are not reading the writing on the wall. According to Transparency International, the annual burden of bribe that the common man in India bears is 1.5 per cent of GDP. He has to pay bribe for birth and death certificates, for school, college or university admission, passport, ration card, driving licence, electric, water and telephone connections, filing a report to the police or for constitutional rights. This is the real picture of “Mera Bharat Mahaan”.

Checking corruption should be a time-bound exercise. All schools and colleges should organise lectures on how to root out corruption by eminent and honest personalities. Students will get inspired by such lecturers and pledge themselves to fight against corruption in their everyday life, society and administration. Simultaneously, the dispensation of justice should be cheap and quick. Laws should be amended to plug leakages.

Corruption at the grassroots level is because of the menace at the top among politicians and bureaucrats. The nexus between politicians and bureaucrats is very strong. Academic discussions, seminars and debates are, in the face of the monster of corruption, futile exercises. What is needed is a total war against corruption.
The corrupt and history-sheeters should be debarred from entering the State Assemblies and Parliament. For this, the country’s electoral system needs to be overhauled. Even slightest evidence of corruption should be sufficient to restrain a candidate from contesting an election. Whereas the common man strives for his daily needs, politicians earn for generations. This must be put to an end.

The remedy for corruption has to come from honest citizens who have to shut the door against the corrupt and the criminal and the political parties who harbour them. This will require considerable courage and may be some sacrifice in personal terms. The effort will be worth it — for the survival of democracy in the country and good of all.