An Editorial in the Kashmir Images puts the blame for corruption entirely on the bureaucracy when in fact general public shares part of the blame
For how long…?
Nothing seems to work here in this God-forsaken land. Each field and every sphere of human activity here is corrupted with so many vices that one really wonders about the possibility of things changing for any good.
Making the matters worst for the common masses is the fact that those at the helm, who are supposed to act as watch-dogs and set the wrongs right have long stopped to think in terms of public good. If at all anything moves them, it is their own petty and selfish interests. Otherwise there is a frustrating inertia that has become as a characteristic feature of more or less each and every wing of the government.
Of course those placed high up in the administrative echelons will like to differ with what popular perception about the scheme of things is, however, this hardly impacts the reality on ground. Reality is what people experience in real life and it obviously has very little to do with what the bureaucracy would want to see on paper or otherwise like to publicize. This marked gulf between the actual and the perceived reality is what is resulting in peoples’ disenchantment with the government and its systems.
Takes for instance the rates fixed for chicken and mutton in the Valley. And interestingly those at the helm of affairs both in Weights and Measures as well as Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution (CA&PD) departments have as if presumed that their rates are being adhered to. However, the reality is that for every kilogram of chicken sold here, people have to shell out Rs 20-25 more than what is the prescribed rate and for each kilogram of mutton they have to chip in Rs 70-85 more than the rates fixed by the government. In such a situation isn’t it natural for the common consumer to question the very efficiency of the concerned agencies and doubt the capacity of the government on the whole? If a government can’t make chicken- and mutton-sellers to abide by law and instead prefers watch ordinary citizens being cheated without much ado or respite, does it really have any moral ground to be in the ruling chair? And by the way, it is not only those selling chicken or mutton who are on a looting spree, in fact the entire market places have been transformed into big dens of gambling where people are cheated on one of the other pretest. Gambling dens – because it is a real gamble to shop here, and obviously the one who loses the least in the bargain is the luckiest!
One more instance is that of the public transport system. Transporters have perfected the habit of humiliating and cheating the commuters and this is done without any remorse and respite. And it is certainly with the help of the concerned agencies that a nauseating status quo has been maintained. Even as everyone knows how insulting the behaviour of the transporters is and how much immunity they enjoy even after brazenly violating all laws, rules and norms, why is it then that the authorities are doing nothing to tame this unruly lot? The concerned departments – both Transport as well as the Traffic Police are so neck-deep in corruption that expecting them to bring about any change in the situation is certainly like expecting the impossible to happen.
Again a similar question can be asked: If the government and its agencies can’t bring about any semblance of law and order on the roads and streets, isn’t it impossible for them to manage the affairs of entire the state? ‘Good beginning is work half done’ and unfortunately here one really wonders how long people will have to wait to see any ‘good beginning’ beginning!