Srinagar, Nov 08 (KNS): CPI (M) senior leader and MLA Kulgam, Muhammad Yousuf Tarigami on Thursday said that Governor Satya Pal Malik’s statement that corruption and nepotism were at their peak in Jammu and Kashmir is beyond any doubt. If one goes by the statement of the Governor, this is only the tip of the ice berg. Such exposures by state administrative chief would have been sufficient enough for many big heads to roll.
In a statement issued to KNS, Tarigami said “there is no doubt corruption is one of the biggest issues in our state. It has spread its tentacles very deep and is at all levels affecting all spheres of life. The magnitude of corruption prevalent in the state administration is huge and rampant. The fatal diseases of corruption, bribery, nepotism and cronyism has plagued virtually most of the institutions.”
“While the high level corruption has invaded all spheres of public life, the common man is faced with petty corruption in their daily lives, which often deprives them of their basic entitlements like food, jobs, education and health. Due to the rampant corruption, common man has to face the harassment and indignity of paying bribes in their daily lives for getting what they are entitled to. It is the institutionalized corruption at the top which creates and sustains the petty corruption at the lower levels. The loot of public funds at the top has a direct bearing on the lives of people as they are deprived off the benefits of health, education and other basic services,” he said.
“The Government recently announced the formation of Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) to fight against the menace of corruption. But the reality is that it is just change of nomenclature. People want action on ground as there is need for immediate treatment to get rid of corruption and nepotism,” Tarigami added.
Tarigami said that the successive regimes in the state have weakened the institutions like Assembly, where discussions and debates on these issues would have been happening.
He said that “People and especially youth have lost faith in the recruitment process for government jobs. There has been lack of transparency in the recruitment process itself and need is to make it more transparent that may help in restoring some confidence among people, especially youth.”
“CPI (M) has been continuously arguing that the fountainhead of corruption is big business houses and neo-liberal policies. Increasingly the political system is getting pervaded by big capital. It is the illegal money generated by big business houses and the corporate which has corrupted the political system. Corruption is rooted in the neo-liberal economic order and the political system is subverted by corrupt means to obey the dictates of capital,” Tarigami said.
CPI(M) leader said that as in the Rafale deal the BJP Government has caused insurmountable loss of taxpayers' money by signing the deal worth Rs 58,000 crores. Anil Ambani-led Reliance Defence Limited had been unfairly picked to be the French firm's Indian partner and the cost of each aircraft was raised three times more than what had been negotiated with France in 2012 to give benefit to Ambanis. The arbitrary action against the former director of CBI is alleged to be outcome of such deals.
CPI (M) sees the fight against corruption as multi-dimensional. The public must know who these bigwigs are and what treatment they would be getting for committing such unpardonable sins landing the entire administrative system in state of non-performance, arrogance and systemic corruption. Only a strong and sustained mass movement can help in fighting the menace of corruption from the society. (KNS)