We have to stop being mute spectators to this orgy of massive corruption, devastation of our tremendous resources and speak out and work tirelessly to restore probity in public life. Then only will India become great again, writes former IAS officer V.S.Pandey
Humungous corruption is salient in the Indian political and bureaucratic system. Consequently, India ranks very poorly in the integrity index compiled by renowned institutions like Transparency International. Unfortunately, we are rotting at the low end of the honesty ladder for decades now with no improvement in sight. Every government which comes to power promises honest governance but in practice, patronizes only the corrupt and unscrupulous elements and hounds the honest. This has been the uninterrupted narrative of our nation- which despite nearly 80 years of self-rule, is still languishing at the lower end of the list of nations with a very poor per capita income. The causes for these chronic problems are many but the foremost reason for poor governance is the unchecked all pervasive corruption reigning from the top to the bottom.
Recently, a report was published regarding the alleged swindling of Rs.112 crore by the former Prasar Bharti Chairman, Mr. Navneet Sehgal, a retired IAS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre, by a news portal. It has drawn wide public attention. This story is based on a 254-page confidential dossier prepared by the Income Tax Department detailing a system of alleged kickbacks in tenders for various schemes of the Uttar Pradesh government. According to the report, investigators documented cash transfers, WhatsApp exchanges about expensive gifts, property trails through a suspected shell firm, and a Rs 21 crore investment made in a company run earlier by the son of former top bureaucrat, Navneet Sehgal. It all started on March 4, 2022, when income tax officials stopped a Toyota vehicle on a Lucknow road and discovered three men inside trying to conceal Rs 41 lakh in cash. What looked like an ordinary interception exposed a deeper trail – an entrenched system of kickbacks in government tenders and grants in Uttar Pradesh. A confidential report by the Directorate of Income Tax Investigation (UP and Uttarakhand) later detailed how at least Rs 112 crore of public money was allegedly siphoned through a web of bureaucrats, contractors, and shell companies.
According to the report, the biggest share of kickbacks allegedly went to Navneet Kumar Sehgal, a 1988-batch IAS officer who held several powerful posts during the period under investigation and was the blue-eyed boy of every government which ruled Uttar Pradesh, for obvious reasons. Mr. Sehgal belongs to a long list of corrupt IAS officers who have looted the state exchequer for years at the cost of the poor, hapless people of the state. This widespread looting by the bureaucracy has been going on in our nation’s governance system for decades -abetted and openly supported by the corrupt political class occupying the highest echelons of our country. This became amply clear after the exercise undertaken by the IAS officers of Uttar Pradesh cadre to identify the “Three Most Corrupt” IAS officers from amongst themselves in the year 1996 and 1997 through secret ballot -cast by UP cadre IAS officers themselves- in which I had the good fortune to spearhead. After years of struggle and perseverance and identification of the three most corrupt IAS officers and finally -submission of the list to the state and central government for enquiry and taking appropriate punitive action, came the shock. Instead of taking severe action against the corrupt lot, the identified “Most Corrupt” IAS officers were elevated to the post of Chief Secretary of the state, one by one, brazenly, by the then Government. All the other subsequent governments also followed the same policy- in cahoots with and protecting the corrupt lot whilst relentlessly shunning and shunting those who continued to walk the honest path. The Sehgals of today are the product of this venal political system and there are thousands of them, devouring the vitals of our system.
Is there a way to remedy this mammoth problem? The experience of all those nations who succeeded in providing people centric governments, tells us unequivocally that the political system cannot be unscrupulous, unethical and corrupt, as is the case in our country. In India, our political leaders can openly lie, spread hatred, divide people, loot public money, favor their cronies and still succeed in winning elections and grab power by using huge amounts of black money. The people have to understand that if they want honest and just governance, they just cannot afford to elect corrupt, unscrupulous people continually, who are hell bent on winning the elections- by hook or by crook. Sehgals are the products of this very corrupt system- they were nurtured and strengthened by this malfeasant network. Only an honest political system can cleanse this mess, mere sloganeering will lead us nowhere. We have to heed Albert Einestein- “The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing.” He effectively blames the entire sufferings of our world, from war to poverty, from oppression to crime, not on evil, but on good’s unwillingness to lift a finger, utter a word. We have to stop being mute spectators of this orgy of devastation of our tremendous resources and speak out and work tirelessly to restore probity in public life. Then only will India become great again.
(Vijay Shankar Pandey is former Secretary Government of India, He is also writer of book Three Most Corrupt)
