The Shame of India

Pratyush Sinha, Chief Vigilance Commissioner, retired last week. Very few people are aware of what he did while in office, or more precisely what he was allowed to do while in office. Not many people care either, because there is very less hope of correcting this setup, as it exists.

After coming out of office, after a lifetime spent in babudom, he made an interesting observation. In a speech, he said that one-third of Indians were "utterly corrupt" and half were "borderline" while a fifth cannot be corrupted under any circumstance.

To put it in proper order, it means :

20% of Indians are not corrupt, meaning they cannot be easily lured.
50% are borderline, meaning they don't mind being corrupt "if the price is good" while
30% are utterly corrupt, meaning they will steel from their mother's corpse, even while people are looking.

To an average Indian, this is something that he has always known. It is no secret that India is 84th in the "Transparency International Index" - which rates us as one of the most corrupt countries of the world. So, I don't know anyone who can dispute the statement of the ex-CVC. Some may want to upgrade the figures - as per their own experiences. But remember, this is from a babu who has been in the thick of things within the system and was appointed to be vigilant about it! I must say he has been vigilant, so he should be an authority on this.

Yesterday, speaking at a national convention of Central Information Commission, Veerappa Moily, one of the ministers overseeing corruption in the present cabinet, was very critical of the ex-CVC. He called for action to be taken against the ex-CVC for this "travesty of truth" and said the official owed an apology to the nation, because he has "shamed" the nation!

Now, Moily believes that he and his colleagues can live in eternal corruption, supporting each other. He is not bothered of what the world thinks of us - because on every index we fail. Only, he doesn't want the truth to be told loudly - because that shames the nation. It does not shame him and his colleagues nor are they willing to do anything to eradicate corruption! Easier to eradicate people like the ex-CVC? And so, in blissful ignorance, life goes on for the corrupt in this shamed nation!

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