Several incidents of sacks of cash worth Crores being unearthed in a series of Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) raids are sending shock waves in the corridors of power, sullying the image of the youngest state in the country. But, the worrying part of it all is that the ACB sleuths see a perfect sense of camaraderie among those caught in the raids. There is no big and small, or higher-ranking and lower-rung officials – being corrupt has become a cool thing in all departments.
Only a fortnight ago, the ACB had caught MRO Nagaraju red-handed while collecting booty of Rs 1.12 crore for a deal. Even as the ACB sleuths are completing their investigations into the incident, another shocking tale of Medak Additional Collector taking bribe surfaced. Additional Collector Gaddam Nagesh has been taken into custody while receiving Rs. 40 lakh bribe for issuing no-objection certificate as part of Rs. 1 Crore land deal.
In another incident, revenue inspector Nagarjuna Reddy was arrested while accepting Rs. 15 lakh bribe. The ACB arrests of Deputy Tehsildars Sandhya, Anthaiah and Sridevi are only a few among 30 others in the revenue department taken into custody while accepting bribes of lakhs of rupees.
Bellary Bail Case
People were shocked when the CBI arrested T Lakshminarasimha Rao, a judge hearing the Bellary mining scam case in 2010. He allegedly took a bribe to grant bail to mining baron Gali Janardhan Reddy in the Bellary Mining Scam case. The arrest had shaken the faith in the Indian judicial system, because of which, people are scared of raising any alarm about corruption in the system, fearing reprisal from the powers that be.
Corruption in police department
The state government claims to have a strong policing system in Telangana. However, it is not free from allegations of common man shelling down money from their pockets to get their works done in the police stations. However, the ACB finds it tough in getting credible information to conduct raids. Also, people are scared of lodging complaints against the police as they fear facing the wrath of others in the department.
Is scrapping departments a solution?
The Telangana government scrapped the Village Revenue Officers (VROs) system overnight. It cites the reason of corruption for taking this revolutionary step. It followed the scrapping by bringing in a new Revenue Act to contain corruption. People are anxious to see the change these actions will bring, but many are skeptical about its success because officials find their own ways to make money through the system. Instead of cleaning the existing systems, increasing the efficiency and performance is a better solution, say sources in employees’ associations.
What can anyone do when corruption is considered to be ‘cool’ and many people don’t mind giving bribes to get things done faster?
