Corruption - Who is responsible ?
Your subject of discussion is timely. We have seen what happened in the temple of democracy - notes were placed on the table of Loka Sabha which some members claimed that the money was paid to vote for the motion or abstain. 22 or 24 MPs defected for a few rupees. What more evidence you require for the rampant corruption in the country. Bottleneck is the at top of the bottle and the rot is at top of our country's edifice.
Shri Jaya Prakash Narayan said long ago that the election is the Gangotri of corruption. All parties collect so much black money for the elections. Why not make everything transparent ? Every public work should be open and transparent and it should be made available on the internet. RTI is not sufficient. It started with permit-liesence raj and now continuing with inspector raj.
'How to rule the rulers ?' is the eternal question. Democracy is not enough. Accountability is required and only vigilant public opinion through the press and NGOs can mitigate the situation. Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty .
A response to an invitation for a seminar in Chennai. ( August 6, 2008).
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