C'da, >What you always seem to miss, is this problem of ENFORCEMENT, of investigating, adjudicating >and punishing the corrupt, of punishing bad behavior and rewarding the good.
Actually, I didn't miss it, just thought it is a given. Just enforcement too is not enough - the court systems are over burdened, and so are the good cops. >Generations of Indian now have not seen anything different. Many think that is how it IS, others think >"they are like that only", yet others who know that it ought not be so, but have no faith at all that things >could ever be changed. Also, generations of Indians have grown up thinking and believing that >they have democracy, the best, and things will take care of itself after they performed the >rituals of elekshuns. I completely agree. But you aren't trying to paint with a broad brush are you ? :-). In fact, when people demand a correction (as in CWG, or Hemanta Sarma) - things often fall in line. Such participation is paramount for a healthy democracy. --Ram On Sat, Aug 14, 2010 at 9:59 AM, Chan Mahanta <[email protected]> wrote: > What you always seem to miss, is this problem of ENFORCEMENT, of > investigating, adjudicating > and punishing the corrupt, of punishing bad behavior and rewarding the > good. > > Generations of Indian now have not seen anything different. Many think that > is how it IS, others think > "they are like that only", yet others who know that it ought not be so, but > have no faith at all that things > could ever be changed. Also, generations of Indians have grown up thinking > and believing that > they have democracy, the best, and things will take care of itself after > they performed the > rituals of elekshuns. When it does not, they whine and moan. But they also > need to LIVE, make a living. > And they know ALL too well, that it is only ONE life to live. > > So what is your magic bullet for fixing thins. Is there ant y? > > Or could it be that a whole slew of things have to be done, over time, to > turn things around. > > And WHO will do that? WHEN? Has it started. Will it ever? > > If it has not even started, how could it be started? If it has, where, > what, how? > > > > > > > > > On Aug 14, 2010, at 9:48 AM, Ram Sarangapani wrote: > > > C'da, > > > > Thanks for fwding this. Really good - just loved it. > > > >> Only one complaint: Tiwari shoud have addressed it to the WORST of them > > all, not ALL of India. Ain't right to paint everyone with the same brush. > > > > > > But let's look at it from Tiwari's angle: Everywhere he looks, there is > > corruption - it's only a matter of degrees. While one might argue that a > > whole set of corrupt leaders are leading (and forcing) an easily > corruptible > > mass, such that corruption has become a way of life, and no longer an > > exception, but the rule - it must only be the fault of these leaders.... > > > > It does take two to tango. > > > > In the end, it all boils down to : do you pay Rs. 500 extra, and catch > your > > flight back to the US, or do you stand your ground, and hold on to those > > ideals, and maybe miss that flight. > > I would catch that flight :-), > > and still use the broad brush & blame all - bribers, and the bribees :-) > > > > --Ram > > > > On Sat, Aug 14, 2010 at 8:57 AM, Chan Mahanta <[email protected]> > wrote: > > > >> I loved this one. Only one complaint: Tiwari shoud have addressed it to > >> the WORST of them all, not ALL of India. Ain't right to paint everyone > with > >> the same brush. > >> > >> > >> cm :-) > >> > >> > http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/bugs-eye-view/entry/mr-kalmadi-s-fake-statement > >> Mr Kalmadi's (fake) statementAlok Tiwari, 14 August 2010, 02:53 PM IST > >> Last night I dreamt I was appointed the speechwriter and propagandist > for > >> Commonwealth Games Organising Committee chief Suresh Kalmadi. The > >> appointment happened through a dubious process the details of which I > shall > >> not bore you with. It was for an obscene amount of money paid into my > >> numbered Swiss bank account. As one of my first assignments, I wrote the > >> following statement for Mr Kalmadi: > >> > >> My fellow citizens, > >> > >> Over the last few weeks, I have read and watched a series of reports > about > >> corruption in the organizing of Commonwealth Games. It has pained me no > end. > >> Some of those things I have tried to explain but what has shocked me is > the > >> demand for my exit. Each day there is a new disclosure and the chorus > begins > >> again. Therefore, I decided to confront the question head on. > >> > >> Yes, corruption has taken place in holding of the games. Trails of quite > a > >> few scandals lead right up to my door. So I will not deny it. But what > is so > >> surprising about it? What did I do that had not been done before? To see > the > >> outpourings of outrage everywhere, it would appear Indians are seeing > >> corruption happen for the first time. Come on, let us shed that garb of > >> innocence. > >> > >> Please come with me to the collectorate of any of our nearly 450 > districts. > >> Each one presided over by an IAS officer, the best and the brightest > among > >> us. Here you find people in their thousands waiting for such commonplace > >> things as domicile and caste certificates. There are contractors waiting > for > >> permits to mine materials such as boulders and gravel. My contractor > friend > >> tells me it takes 18 approvals to get one permit. Please try to get just > one > >> of them without giving a bribe or using a big name. The same goes for > each > >> certificate. > >> > >> I could take you to the secretariat of each of our 30-odd states. Or to > >> ministries in New Delhi where even bigger deals are made. The story will > be > >> repeated on a progressively larger scale. Let us travel to any of the > RTO > >> offices. I dare you to have a vehicle registered or transferred, or just > pay > >> your tax without going through a tout or paying someone. Why, most of us > >> have driving licences. I ask each one of you to keep your hand on your > heart > >> and ask whether you got it by honestly appearing for a test or gave a > small > >> fee to someone to get it for you. > >> > >> I also want you remember the last time you were booked for jumping a > >> traffic signal or wrongly parking your car. Did you quietly pay your > fine or > >> tried to settle the matter with the cop for a lower amount? Please get > me a > >> birth certificate from your local municipal office in a straightforward > >> manner. I could say the same about courts but for the risk of being > hauled > >> up for contempt. I shall still suggest that you spend a day in the court > >> complex of any district and check out the exemplary honesty and > integrity > >> with which everybody from peon to lawyers to judges work there. Let us > then > >> go to a PWD or an irrigation department office of your choice and try to > >> find a road or a dam built with complete honesty. I could go on. But you > get > >> the drift, right? > >> > >> Somebody has thrown a CAG report on my face. Poor CAG has been writing > such > >> reports by the dozens about every department of every government at > every > >> level. I am yet to discover their utility other than providing > particularly > >> untalented reporters a means to live another day. The toilet paper in my > >> bathroom finds better use than those reports. It is the same with CVC. > >> > >> And, ah, the media… How can I forget my friends there? Please ask them > >> about the increasingly blurred line between advertising and commercials > so > >> that readers do not know what is paid for and what is not. What > editorial > >> integrity do we see when interviews and features on movies appear > sweetly > >> timed with their release? We had the scandal of paid political news > during > >> elections. I am yet to see an editor or an owner hauled over the coals > for > >> that or being asked to demit office. > >> > >> No, my compatriots, it is not corruption in CWG that bothers you. If > that > >> were the case, you would have lynched every district collector and every > RTO > >> in the country by now. You have long made peace with corruption. You > have > >> become part of it when you could. It is brazenness and scale of my > >> corruption that concerns you. That is the novelty element. If my team > had > >> kept itself limited to taking 10 or 20 per cent cut, you would be > looking > >> the other way. The media would find it boring to report that. What > shocks > >> you is that I paid Rs 9 lakh for hiring a treadmill that could be had > for Rs > >> 45,000. If I had done the deal at Rs 50,000 you would be OK with it. You > do > >> not mind people crossing the line. You mind them crossing it too openly. > But > >> you forget, friends, that once you allow crossing of lines you cannot > set > >> the rules for it. Also, I have only raised the bar here. Citius, Altius, > >> Fortius. Isn't that what having games is all about? Give me credit for > at > >> least that (though I'd prefer cash!). > >> > >> With all sincerity (or what is left of it amongst us), > >> Suresh Kalmadi > >> > >> Now, if only I could get Mr Kalmadi to sign it… > >> _______________________________________________ > >> assam mailing list > >> [email protected] > >> http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org > >> > > _______________________________________________ > > assam mailing list > > [email protected] > > http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org > > > _______________________________________________ > assam mailing list > [email protected] > http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org > _______________________________________________ assam mailing list [email protected] http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org
