I was sitting comfortably with my roommate in my room and having some funny conversations. A news popped up about a person who was appointed as a teacher in a government school somewhere in Punjab. The teacher hadn’t shown up after the day of his appointment. After six months or so, school authorities realised his absence and complained to the school head, who in turn sent an informal letter seeking a reason for his absence.
Of course, there was no response to that letter. The school head thought of going ahead and reporting the matter to the higher authority. Since it’s an incident which took place in India, one would easily guess that this whole process would have taken nearly a year. Yes, a complete year. No reply from the other side, even after sending a formal letter. It left the authority only with the legal options.
They went with it, dragging the matter to the court. Once the legal notice was sent, the letter of his resignation was evident. After some time, it was revealed that this person went to some gulf country in search of a job and was happily doing a job for the past one year. All this while, he was being paid by the government and also earning on his own. I was literally awestruck by the news and tried to get feedback from my roommate as he belonged to Chandigarh. To my utter amazement, he seemed not surprised at all, as if nothing strange had happened.
After a while, he started narrating a similar story. He said that an aunt of his was doing a job of a teacher in a government school, was around 50 years old and had some health issues. So, I asked, “What is your point?” He explained that his aunt wouldn’t go to school for a month or so and furnish a fake medical certificate in order to justify her absence. She would do that frequently.
In the last six months, she had gone to her school only for some 10 odd days. And she gets her salary without any deduction. Then he said that it was quite normal for them. I asked, “What about those children who didn’t get any education and what about that money in the exchequer that was getting wasted?”
He said, “Nobody cares. Everybody is getting their own benefits. So, let it be.” I was literally fascinated by the level of confidence he showed after doing what is said to be corruption, in our nation.
Now, this example shows how deep the roots of corruption have grown inside an ordinary Indian citizen. There can be many such examples which many aware citizens must be aware of. They feel it is alright to do what is right for their personal interest, even if laws go for a toss. So, when somebody talks of eroding this corruption, what else can be expected from such kind kinds of people?
We do have to accept the fact that many within our population, serve the corrupt section. The section which tries to live on exchequer money without doing anything. Hence, they never want the system to change. Rather, they will be filled with angst if someone says that this system is changing. So that corruption can be curbed.
So, the point being made is that there will always be an uproar if you want to curb corruption in this country. It’s for you to think whether you are capable enough to bear that brunt. The Prime Minister has done exactly the same.
Now, it’s a matter of choice for the citizen, to decide which spectrum of the population they want to belong to. The choice you make today will decide the course of your future.
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