Timesnows – Ndtv – HT – CnnIBN and other news channels parliament between 9 pm to 10 pm is attended by various Members of Parliament as well as other Intellectuals from different fields debating on issues relating to corruption, inflation, landacquisition, multi-million dollar scams, etc etc etc. Inspite of such daily debates & arguments in television studios as well as Indian parliament the rates of electricity, gas, petrol, diesel, foodgrains, sugar, vegetables, poultry, travelling expenses, etc continues to increase excluding kerala the population in all states continues to increase inspite of various laws some people continue to abort female foetuses and in a city like Bombay apart from the price increases the additional problems related to water shortage - inadequate infrastructure - slow work on metro - trafficjams - builder-politician-slumlord nexus etc etc etc has increased the stress levels of bombay citizens. But one thing is very strange none of the TV news channels bothers to hold a debate between Bishops & representatives of Lay catholics on issues related to illegal sale of vacant church properties, misuse of church funds, refusal of admission of poor christians in Christian schools, double standards of Christian missionaries who are using their foreign funds to serve poor non-christians but turn a blind eye to the plight of poor-christians, etc etc etc.
Corruption is a universal phenomenon; but then, in India, it is a curse for its people who are already cursed with poverty, illiteracy, casteism, communal disharmony and ill - health. Only our politicians – bureaucrats – ward officers – ias/ips/ifs/irs officers - sarkaribabus – talathis – tehsildars – commissioners - collectors - etc by their own personal conduct of honesty and hard work can remove these curses and make our country a developed nation. If they do so, they will be fulfilling the wishes of the Ex-President Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, who wants India to be a developed nation by the year 2020. After the Protestant Britishers, free India govt, maharashtra govt. began grabbing the agricultural lands of the catholic natives ( www bombayland.blogspot com ) or eastindians ( www east-indians com ) of bombay there were around 10% eastindians who were smart enough to bribe various officials in govt.dept, collectorsoffice, bmc and hold on to some of their agricultural lands but the other 90% eastindians who were busy with alcoholism & infighting lost all their agricultural lands and were reduced to a backward class status. The 10% eastindians who possessed agricultural lands began selling away their lands in the 80s, 90s & 2000s to the builders lobby and became super rich. These 10% super rich eastindians do not bother to help the other 90% eastindians most of whom are struggling to make ends meet. To add to the problems of eastindians the marathi migrants grabbed most of the jobs in airindia, bmc, best, police, central/state govt. undertakings, etc in bombay leaving majority of the eastindians to do odd & menial jobs in private industries. The Marathi migrants also changed all records in bmc, collectorsoffice, citysurveyoffice, rationoffice from English language to Marathi language. The Marathi migrants also changed the name of the city, vtrailwaystation, airport, museums, roads, landmarks, streets, bridges from british & parsi names to marathi names. Because of the brute majority of the marathi people they are able to do whatever they want without being challenged. Below article picked up from net on IAS officers of British raj & Delhi raj : The most glamorous, highly respectable and very much feared person in the British bureaucracy in India was an ICS Officer. A man for all seasons and for all reasons, a versatile person of many parts who could handle any kind of job just like our present IAS (Indian Administrative Service) officers. These IAS wallahs could head or be responsible for Atomic Energy Commission though he knows nothing about atomic science or could be the Vice - Chancellor of a Medical or Technical University, not having ever studied either Engineering or Medicine. No wonder, all IAS Officer - headed departments, where special knowledge and skill of a technocrat or of a specialist is required, have miserably failed, both in administration and production. During the days of the British Raj on a typical day, this ICS officer might be called upon to judge a case involving husband and wife or arrange rice to be supplied to a famine - stricken village or meet a local Maharaja and, in the evening, or whenever he likes, go for a shikar with great fanfare. Basically, these ICS Officers were tax collectors. Which is why they were known as District Collectors. And to collect tax, one must have power to punish too or power to intimidate. Therefore, ICS Officers were also given the power of a District Magistrate. Thus he became both the Police and the Judge — prosecutor and the dispenser of justice. Strange but true in a colonised country. It seems, in 1901, there were about 1,000 ICS Officers in India who administered the then population of about 300 million people (30 crore). Now the present population is, of course, more than one billion — over 100 crore. Correspondingly the number of IAS Officers too might have increased. After Independence, we Indians did not have the genius to find an alternative to ICS to suit our independent status as a country and to meet the requirement of economic development as also the need for creating a new social order in a pluralistic caste - ridden country, where more than 50 per cent of the people are steeped in utter poverty. We found a short cut by changing the nomenclature of ICS to IAS. Without making major changes, either in the nature of job or service conditions, the magisterial power still continues to be with them but that is only regarding the law and order of the district, where the IAS Officer is both a Deputy Commissioner and a District Magistrate. The most admired quality of an ICS Officer of the British days, where almost all of them were Britishers, was that despite their vast power, he had a reputation of being incorruptible. These Officers were also considered very honest, fair - minded and able administrators. No wonder, even today, those who have seen the British administration, secretly admire the Raj days and remember with nostalgia the corruption - free and efficient administration. Indeed, these ICS men created a kind of mystique around the British Empire in India. David Gilmour, probably could not find any fault with the ICS in his new book titled The Ruling Caste: Imperial Lives in the Victorian Raj. It is said this book has been written to defend the ICS Officers who were accused recently by the Revisionist historians of sins, ranging from selfishness to incompetence in times of social or political disturbance or in dealing with famines which happened too frequently. In the beginning, all ICS Officers used to be Britishers. It was only towards the end of British Raj in India, that Indians were allowed to appear for ICS exams that always took place in England. Some of the famous names among Indians could be mentioned — Aurobindo, Subhash Chandra Bose and Jayaprakash Narayan. According to Lord Dalhousie, who was the Governor General of India, members of the civil service in England were just clerks. But a member of the civil service in India was a very top official. At the age of 19, one could take the entrance exam in England for the ICS. This age was fixed in late 1870s. However, the age was later increased to 23 years. After they were trained, they were shipped off to India, to work in its far flung provinces and districts to be the “steel frame” that held the British Raj together. These ICS Officers used to be responsible for everything that happened in their jurisdiction except for impregnation of women and abortion. He had to settle all the legal disputes, all criminal cases from theft to murder, look after forests, roads, schools, hospitals, canals etc. In other words, he was the Maharaja of the place he was posted to. His word was the law. Because, ultimately, it was he who interpreted the law. Gilmour says, all ICS Officers could not be brilliant or competent. However, these officers were honest. They had vast opportunities to be corrupt but with very few exceptions, they did not abuse their power in order to enrich their life. Now, compare this with our present day IAS Officers, the new avatar of old ICS. The IAS Officer, who succeeded later, after our country's independence, are not only incompetent and dishonest but also corrupt (exception apart). Some years back, newspapers headlined the huge properties acquired by an IAS officer who was also the Chief Secretary of the State, which included many commercial complexes, seaside villa, rubber plantation so on and so forth considered acquisition of wealth disproportionate to his known source of income. What happened? Do you know of the Union Ministers, who had stacked cash in their bathrooms and anterooms loaded in gunny bags while they themselves were holidaying in London and America. What happened? It is said that the ICS Officers of British Raj were not corrupt because they were paid very high salaries with very attractive perks and allowances. If that is so, our IAS officers too should be given a higher salary, perks and allowances that would keep them from the temptation of corruption. But then, if an individual is attracted to so many expensive habits or is being put to pressure by his wife and children to give them all that the present day consumer society makes available, then even the strong - willed person of integrity is shaken and may succumb to corruption. Jorge Monteiro jorgepmtrgmailcom Bombay.
