Tackling the ever-present blight of corruption in public life

Not a day will pass without the embarrassing news of corruption becoming universal in all spheres of public life! It can be said that it is the curse of the country that all the positions of authority that the common people have to approach for services, not to mention public servants, people's representatives, bureaucrats, police officers who have to ensure law enforcement, are turning into stinking cesspools of bribery and corruption. The most recent example of this is the arrest of Thodupuzha municipal assistant Engineer CT Aji and middleman contractor Roshan Sargam for receiving a bribe of Rs 1 lakh. Municipal chairman Sanish George, who was induced to pay bribe, is the second accused in the case.

In this way, every day from many districts, many cases related to many departments are coming out, even when the accused are punished in many cases, there is no curb on the evil of corruption! Corruption free governance is the first item in any government's governance promises. Each government will reiterate that it is committed to it. Governments will swear that they have reduced the level of corruption. At the same time, the number of cases registered by the vigilance wing of various government departments, in which officials are accused, occasionally appears in the media as a black joke. Amidst this plethora of cases, don't miss the good news that the accused are being punished. Former assistant of Kattakkada Veeranakavu village office who took bribe to provide revenue documents required for bank loan On the same day, the news that the vigilance court sentenced Babu to four years rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 15,000 was reported on the same day. It is only that the current sentence is in the case of 2016!

The eight-year court proceedings in the Rs 3,000 bribery case shows how long and difficult the path of law and justice is. It is not only the loss of sense of value in the public sphere, but also the reason why corruption is so widespread. As long as the predicament that acquisition of wealth and luxuries determine one's social status and position does not change, greed for money will exist. At the same time, the government elected by the people has the responsibility to curb official corruption and the leadership of political parties has the responsibility to control corruption in politics. The solution is to tighten the checks, take strict action regardless of the political affiliation of those caught and dismiss the officers who are found to be corrupt. Also, there should be a solution to the situation where justice is delayed for the victims who are stuck in court proceedings.