The Hindu Business Line : <I>Toning up `private morality' </I>

The system of peerages is not a part of the Indian republic's social structure, but to point this out is not to imply that the malaise does not exist in India.

Paul Johnson, writing in The Spectator, says in a recent article: "The poor tend to be more honest than the rich. This is a lesson history teaches again and again. On reason private morality does not improve is because people are set such a bad example by governments".

As an example Johnson cites the sale of peerages and knighthoods in the UK. He writes: "How can our rulers expect taxpayers to behave honourably when filling in their returns if they pollute the whole system of honours by selling them for hard cash or, nowadays, non-commercial loans?"

Thankfully, the system of peerages is not a part of the Indian republic's social structure, but to point this out is not to imply that the malaise — for it is nothing else but one in any healthy society — does not exist in India.

It does but it operates, like in most other societies with a pretension to be clean and law-abiding, in far more complex and hidden ways, the net result however being the same as the sale of peerages.

Hanging on to plum posts

Take our own society, for instance. It is said that the black sheep among revenue officers often bid for plum postings and, having got them, arrange in devious ways of remaining in the posts despite conventions and guidelines which underscore the importance of regular time-barred transfers. In some States, unscrupulous policemen are said to bid for positions in areas or departments known to be "lucrative".

The same suspicion is rife with regard to the appointment of people in port establishments. In nearly every case of such a deal, however, there is no concrete proof or evidence, as is of course to be expected.

But everyone seems to know about it, which really makes the situation as bad as if the whole thing was out in the open.

The larger canvas

The question to ask is: In such circumstances, how will "private morality" be toned up, especially in a country like ours?

There is, of course, one point of view which holds that the situation could be much worse (as is in fact the case in a host of other countries), the inference being that since nothing in this world is perfect the sort of corruption indicated above need not be blown out of proportion.

Keeping the larger canvas in mind this is no doubt sensible, but the argument will be acceptable only if it is accompanied by a strong determination to weed out the unwanted practice so that with time one sees a gradual end to it, if not an appreciable decline.

Can we honestly say that the rich and the powerful in our country are sincerely trying to weed out this sort of social dishonesty — say, through a campaign such as the one for and against reservation?

If not, why not? Which leads to the bigger issue about the true state of our republic's health.

Ranabir Ray Choudhury

More Stories on : Trends | View Point | Politics

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Failure on the farm

Statistics may not tell the real tale

Of a leader and a hero

Doctors' strike

Saving the Serendip

Is IPO scam a thing of the past?

For a healthy food chain

Toning up `private morality'

Dividend tax