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Monday 15 July 2013

My Opinion on Corruption

Dear Readers,

"Sir, Please help us sir! My son has not got the highest but it is good percentage, sir. But why no seat in your college sir?"
He gets the following reply~
"Whaat to do sa'ab? Seats are a few but students are so many! I would love to help but..."
The father is desperate for a quick end to the admission agony (Every college student knows about this particular torture!)~
"Please sir! Just tell me what I need to do."
The reply is as expected~
"Now how to tell you sir.. The College needs little money for renovation.. If you are willing to donate a little, maybe a seat might open up"

The rest is very obvious to guess isn't it?

When we think of corruption it is so very easy to preach that we are the ones fueling the monster of corruption. We are the ones making the greed well up in officials with power. The offer for the bride does need a giver after all, doesn't it? The Official did not bribe himself, now did he?

But is it this cut and dried? Is it so easy to curb the demand side of corruption? (High five to the Commerce kids who understood that!) Is it so easy to resist offering a bribe and getting into the college of your choice? Or getting your passport done a week early? Or have your paperwork pushed through the bureaucracy of the Indian governments lax system that works slower than a snail?

In my opinion, I ( or Anybody having a need) am justified in giving a bribe!

Before you start with the "Need to resist/Integrity of the citizen/Being the Cause" speech, let me give you my reasoning behind that statement.
We have a screwed up system in place with regards to governance and administration. Nobody can dispute that. (People on the government's payroll do not count!) We know for a fact that if we go to a government office, our papers will get stuck on "some desk" along the way to completion and a Twenty Rupee note is needed to budge it the off the table to the next. On the other hand if you don't, you will be made to wait forever. Its simple logic. Time is money. Twenty Rupees are not worth 2 hours. Spend the note, spare the hour.

The expectation that people will not give bribes is delusional unless the system is changed. Unless I know for a fact that I will be judged purely on merit and not on my father's name, I will be left with no choice but to buy a seat.

The government is obligated to bring about the change. The people of the Nation need to push for better accountability so that we do not have to rely on money but our own potential and abilities. This change can be the Lokpal Bill. Or it could be a new government. But it is the need of the hour.
Yours Truly, 

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