The last few months have been too much to bear for the common man in India. The only major topic he has been hearing about on TV & reading about in newspapers is - SCAMS. It began with the now infamous 2G scam, & then there was no respite as scams after scams (CWG scam, illegal mining scam, cash-for-vote scam, illegal land acquisition scam, etc) were unearthed from hitherto untouched cupboards in the corridors of power. As if these were not enough, a leading weekly magazine even reported a scam in the procurement of night vision goggles for our soldiers. Just a few years ago, there were scams in procurement of coffins for our soldiers. Then, there was police uniform scam, & even fodder scam. If even the cattle are fed adultrated fodder, is there anything else that our elite public servants are capable of leaving untouched by scams? Practically nothing is left untouched. So, as of now, the lowest level our public servants can stoop to is - fodder. As you may notice, fodder remains the lowest in the hierarchy of scams (not in terms of the size of scam). The most famous scam involving the Nehru - Gandhi family is the Bofors scam. Still, 2G remains the mother of all scams till date in the history of independent India (in terms of size).
As a lay man, when I look at these scams, the one question that comes to my mind is - IS INTEGRITY TOO MUCH TO ASK FOR FROM OUR POLITICIANS & PUBLIC SERVANTS? Shouldn't integrity come to any educated & civilized person by default, naturally? As if the invaders - The Ghoris, Ghaznis, Mughals, & the British weren't enough, our own people, ironically the ones who are supposed to make decisions for the welfare of the Nation & its people, indulge in the loot. Why is this so? Is it just the greed or is there more to it than meets the eye? What is it that makes these public servants indulge in such characterless acts, even as millions of our people die of hunger and starvation every year?
Just think about all the excuses & justifications that the Government is giving in institutionalising the anti corruption watchdog - Lokpal. Agreed that the Government has a point when it says that the institution of Lokpal should be created within the ambit of Constitution & that he should be accountable. It is also agreed that when the highest people's representative, the PM of India is accountable & answerable to the Parliament, how can the Lokpal not be answerable to anybody? Still, even if there is a Lokpal, it doesn't answer the fundamental question - IS INTEGRITY TOO MUCH TO ASK FOR? Is it human nature to be so? Is it man's nature - to be greedy? Has man always been like this? Is it fair for public servants to mercilessly loot the Nation in this manner when they are entrusted with so much trust & faith while electing them as our representatives or appointing them as Government servants?
Human greed has caused far too much misery in this world. Greed was single handedly responsible for causing the catastrophe of 2008 - 09, the great recession. It is ironical that the rich and powerful are the ones indulging in greed more & more. While there is no limit to human desires or aspirations, the one question that lingers in my mind is: is integrity in public life too much to ask for? If integrity comes with a certain cost, who will do the duties demanded of a public servant? Isn't integrity an unwritten value which is considered as given? I mean, if I as a employer give a job to someone, it goes without saying that I have given the job out of trust & faith that the employee will perform his duties with integrity. Still, why is it such a big deal that it is too much to ask for?
I have no answers. Like most, I too keep pondering and questioning. Sometimes I get answers (not necessarily convincing, but somewhat on the lines of "why it could be so"), but at othertimes, I have no clue. Like most common men world over, I continue to question & seek answers to these fundamental questions on human behavior & conduct in social life.
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