May the tribe grow? Or, when you will act and do justice?
Mr.Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister, might not have imagined in the wildest of his dreams that a set of intractable problems, corruption, black money and also unpaid huge bank loans by the high and mighty, besides his unfulfilled promises of getting the black money from foreign banks and putting into the citizens accounts as much as Rs.15 lakhs per family? Or, per head?
Whatever it is, the amount, the amount now lying in run realised debts in the PSU banks ,now after Mr.Mallya fled the country has really become something no one seems to have a clue so far. We, citizens, all believed that bank loans, once taken, would be repaid like you and me, one day with interest!
But no, alas! This is not true at all. Only lately we realised that if you are a bigwig, in business or like Mr.Mallaya, in Formula I race or IPL cricket or simply a member of the Rajya sabha, you can flout rules and delay payment. On the very same day when Mr.Mallaya fled we saw a pathetic replay of a defaulter, this time, it is not like Malaya but a humble farmers in far away Tamil Nadu district, he was shown beaten up by police or by the recovery agents and his tractor was seized and taken away! As a result the poor or unfortunate farmer decided to take his life and he committed suicide!
This was in a state quite advanced in agriculture and in district known for its irrigated fields! What about the other farmers, more unfortunate, in far off Maharashtra in the drought-hit Vidarbha district. No one anymore seems to have kept count of the number of unfortunate farmers who take their lives. Yes, farmers’ lives are cheap and deaths of farmers are not reported in the daily news. It is no more news worthy.
Now, as for the big banks and big loans, as in the case of the King Fisher Airlines, we are told that there are bigger defaulters in other industries and yet they are not declared as defaulters. The story is long and unpalatable for all who know how the Indian economy and politics work.ven a child knows that no banker would shell out cash in such big boxes, or in sacks (we don’t know how the money was transferred but we all know before the money is handed out it must a phone call or an email or through some unknown channels it is the politician, a minister or a higher-up secretary who would have advised the bank manager to shell out such big cash bundles.
It is sheer hypocrisy that till date no one seems to be willing to disclose this was done s a quid proquo for a favour done by the corporate heavyweight. And, pray, this all happened when the Congress party, call it UPA or NDA (!) was in power.
Why then this silence? Now, this sort of bulk cash disposal can’t happen in India without political patronage. So too, under the successor government. Why it took two years to come to this stage? Even now, there is much doubt whether the money can be recovered, not just from one corporate heavyweight but from other heavyweights as well.
Or, do something so that we start afresh. No less important is also to fight corruption. As per one account in Karnataka in the court of Lokayuktha, there are some 750 cases registered and there is no chance they would all be disposed off, given the disbanding and reconstitution in the avatar of ACB (Anti-Corruption Bureau), a state government department.
Also there are some high profile politically sensitive corruption cases. When all these cases would be disposed off? We don’t want to sound embarrassing to anybody.
The point is that we have to initiate some large scale or limited scale reforms in party funding or Election Commission Reform and speed up the implementation of the Right to Information Act and there are many such sensitive areas. Today, we write from the grassroots, that corruption t all levels, yes, all levels are rising by leaps and bounds.
We are sure the PM downwards must know this trend very well. Unless, the many democratic institutions from Panchayats up to the district and state levels upto Delhi we fill up vacancies we can’t have things under control. So, please encourage press freedom, freedom of expression, media freedom. The PM can then get the latest developments.
So that many of the problems at many levels might get themselves solved.Democracy is a great tool. To get the citizens express their grievances. Please see how China under Xi has managed to tackle corruption. It is really a tough call in China with one party and strict media control.
It must be a bit easier in a democracy. People must feel relaxed and happy. Indian people are relatively a happy people by the latest Happiness Index, you know! So, feel happy for the small mercies you enjoy!