We need honest and transparent politicians and bureaucrats!

A low trough forms somewhere in the sea may cause heavy destructions to many lives and properties when it crosses the land somewhere. Even meteorologists can only predict the approximate direction but none knew when and where it will cause destructions. It is only a sort of speculation. Hence any change in temperature and airflow may cause ripples anywhere! The hot climate sometimes causes instant rainfall somewhere. It is not within the control of human beings to know beforehand what will happen when? However, timely warning enables the authorities to escort men and materials to safer zones! Thus, the quantum of destruction could be reduced much. But there are certain times when all the catchment areas get copious rain simultaneously, the adjoining dams full of water above the danger marks. The authorities have no way except to let off the surplus water. This is how Chennai witnessed the worst flooding continuously for five days, preventing people to come out. Even affluent people were crying for drinking water and milk, though they were ready to pay any price! When the entire roads are flooded and vehicles floating in them, how supplies could be ensured. There were no power, no communication, utter darkness; even the dead bodies could not be disposed in time. This is how Chennai encountered the worst situation in a century! There was no let off. How the government machinery were put on alert and by whom? It is Face Book and Whats App helped the residents to communicate their distress to others so that Air Force sorties made several attempts to supply essentials to the terraces! It was a nightmarish situation for the residents of Chennai that time. Within a few months another catastrophe struck Chennai. This was a cyclone which uprooted almost all shade giving trees, the roads were reduced to mere gravel and debris and there was no way out.

Why such things happen? Entire power to take decisions rested on the Chief Minister. No minister or Secretary level bureaucrats could take any independent decisions. The system of administration in a State is bit complicated. It is political combined with administration of state missionary. When there is a communication gap, none would like to risk taking certain vital decisions! However there are many fundamental precautions, a corporation can take to prevent flooding in monsoon. It is the desilting of storm water drains within the city! City administration was in shambles since there was no preplanning. Political interference in each department caused many tragedies in the life of people. The city councilors were more interested in their own power and pelf. They never cared for public opinion or media news. It is the sad spectacle of administration in one of the major Metro cities of India. The administration needs transparent and efficient administrators who are duty conscious and they are accountable to public. But who cares? In spite of vigilance cells in each department, it remained a dummy due to the pressure of politicians who wanted to amaze sizable wealth during their short tenure. This is just one example of maladministration in one of the major cities. I don’t vouch that other cities within India is administered well. Only the percentage of corruption varies. Everywhere there is the stigma of corrupt politicians and bureaucrats conniving to loot the public fund. Hence there is a huge cry for appointment of Lok Adalat and Lok pals, who are supposed to be the watch dogs of administrative machinery. Sadly, excepting a few states, no such authorities exist in Tamil Nadu or the Center made attempts to pass the bill in Lok Sabha!

Unless corruption is rooted out from public administration, no country can progress. Corruption, black marketing and money laundering are the three major ills of any country! It is a sad revelation that in India, only one percent pays their Income tax every year! But the statistics reveal there are many billionaires in India and almost all the Members of Parliament and Assemblies are millionaires. They neither defend the constitution nor highlight the lacuna in their constituencies. Why they are elected for such prestigious Institutions of State and Center? It was believed that there will be guardians of Indian Constitutions but alarmingly there are many notorious personalities in such august bodies. Hence the Election Commission with the approval of the Parliament makes stringent provisions in the constitution that no criminals should contest the elections. More than 30% of the law makers have one or more criminal cases in the courts of law. Some of them are charged even with murders and other serious crime! Ultimately it is the responsibility of the voter to pick up an honest man for representing them both in the State and Center. If you watch the proceedings in Lok Sabha as well as in State Assemblies, it was utter chaos. Throwing chairs and mics at the opponents is a very common affair.

Morality and righteousness is given the go bye everywhere. People want to loot the public and stack such ill gotten money in unknown destinations. It has become difficult for the law enforcing agencies to bring such criminals to book and get them convicted. There are many loop holes in the criminal laws and any criminals who are intelligent can easily escape from punishments. Still, recently the government has started taking stringent steps to catch those goons who are hiding in foreign soil escaping punishments here. But time is running out for them. Many Officers in Criminal Investigation department sweat through their brows to book such high profile criminals. One day they will face the grill and their properties will be confiscated for sure. One can cheat few people for few days but none can cheat all the people all the time!