Some parents of children studying in Khaitan Public School and DLF Public School in Ghaziabad have alleged that the schools have discriminated against their children and are harassing them following a recent fee hike issue.

The District Inspector of Schools (DIOS) has sent letters to the two schools telling them not to discriminate and also threatened to cancel their No Objection Certificate (NOC) to run the schools.

The parents appraised DIOS Ravinder Singh and Additional District Magistrate (City) S.K.
Srivastava on the issue and demanded action against the schools.

As per the Uttar Pradesh government orders passed on June 29 this year, a district committee headed by the District Magistrate was to decide about the quantum of fee hike in schools run by CBSE, ICSE and the UP Board (excluding minority institutions).

Several schools in UP and the NCR filed a writ petition in the Allahabad High Court demanding quashing of the June 29 orders.

In an interim order by the High Court, the order passed by the district committee was stayed. The orders issued by the District Inspector of Schools (DIOS), Joint Secretary (Education), were also stayed.

On the basis of this stay by the HC, the schools say they can charge a hiked fee. Parents on the other hand argue that the HC has not given any specific orders that the hiked fee is to be charged.

“The half-yearly result for Class 10 has been held back.
Some students were openly told that their parents had failed to deposit their fee,” said Shekhar Bharti from Khaitan Parents’ Association.

“And some parents have been issued letters stating not to send children to the school in the near future.”

Khaitan Public School principal Nalini Bahl said letters have indeed been sent but only in those cases where parents have defaulted in paying the fee.
The principal, however, dismissed allegations of harassment and discrimination.

“The half yearly report card issue is to be decided by the school’s managing committee.
Only some parents are creating these problems,” she said.

Parents of kids at DLF Public School claimed that they were ready to pay fees as per the old structure but school is not accepting the money.

Vineet Bajaj of DLF Parents’ Association claimed, “To pressurise us to deposit the increased fee, the teachers have started harassing our children.
Teachers openly speak ill about the parents and children are categorically pointed out.”

The school has denied the allegations.

“We have not resorted to any such discrimination. Most parents have paid the school fee.
It’s only 50-100 parents who are creating problems,” said Rakesh Khullar, Director DLF Public school.

DIOS Ravinder Singh said, “We received a lot of complaints from the parents about the alleged harassment of their children. The schools have been directed to stop any such activity leading to harassment of the children.”

“We would recommend their No Objection Certificate for cancellation if the two schools are found guilty of harassment.”

Corruption hurts everyone, and it harms the poor the most. Sometimes its devastating impact is obvious:

• · A father who must do without shoes because his meagre wages are used to pay a bribe to get his child into a supposedly free school.
• · The unsuspecting sick person who buys useless counterfeit drugs, putting their health in grave danger.
• · A small shop owner whose weekly bribe to the local inspector cuts severely into his modest earnings.
• · The family trapped for generations in poverty because a corrupt and autocratic leadership has systematically siphoned off a nation’s riches.

Other times corruption’s impact is less visible:

• · The prosperous multinational corporation that secured a contract by buying an unfair advantage in a competitive market through illegal kickbacks to corrupt government officials, at the expense of the honest companies who didn’t.
• · Post-disaster donations provided by compassionate people, directly or through their governments, that never reach the victims, callously diverted instead into the bank accounts of criminals.
• · The faulty buildings, built to lower safety standards because a bribe passed under the table in the construction process that collapse in an earthquake or hurricane.

Corruption has dire global consequences, trapping millions in poverty and misery and breeding social, economic and political unrest.

Corruption is both a cause of poverty, and a barrier to overcoming it. It is one of the most serious obstacles to reducing poverty.

Corruption denies poor people the basic means of survival, forcing them to spend more of their income on bribes. Human rights are denied where corruption is rife, because a fair trial comes with a hefty price tag where courts are corrupted.

Corruption undermines democracy and the rule of law.

Corruption distorts national and international trade.

Corruption jeopardises sound governance and ethics in the private sector.

Corruption threatens domestic and international security and the sustainability of natural resources.

Those with less power are particularly disadvantaged in corrupt systems, which typically reinforce gender discrimination.

Corruption compounds political exclusion: if votes can be bought, there is little incentive to change the system that sustains poverty.

The conclusion – Corruption hurts everyone.

The most disquieting aspect of the widespread corruption in India is the fact that it is not anymore confined to politicians or the government machinery alone. It is prevalent amongst almost every section of the society at every level.

As the practice of corruption is a dishonest act, one has to think that most of the Indians are dishonest, which could be different only in degree between the individuals. As the reason for the dishonesty is greediness and the desire to get things done at any cost one can think that most of the country men are greedy and do not anymore think that the means should justify the ends. This is not a flattering statement and many readers would desire that it would not be so and such statement could have been avoided. But, the fact is that most of the Indians are involved in corrupt practices in one way or the other, either due to greed or due to so called compulsion. In any case, the willingness to sacrifice for the sake of not getting involved in corrupt dealings is conspicuous by its absence amongst the most.

Today, if one would say that any particular Indian is honest to the core, it could only be a case of exception rather than a rule.

The study of world phenomenon on corruption has repeatedly branded India as one of the most corrupt countries in the world. Unfortunately, this view has not disturbed most of the Indians at all and they do not seem to care as to what others think of them; so long as the existing systems and practices would allow them to make money and get things done in one way or the other.

The irony is that India is still considered to be a very religious country and it is still widely believed that the religion is the basis of Indian life, thoughts and actions. This is obviously true, considering the fact that there are hundreds of temples, churches and mosques spread all over the country and they are all densely visited day in and day out by the feverishly praying Indians.

Is not religious ethos contrary to corruption and dishonest practices ?The unfortunate situation in India is that those who call themselves most religious are often found to have indulged themselves in dishonest practices on many occasions. Several of the religious centres, of all religions, are suspected to be steeped in nepotism, as such incidents have been repeatedly published in the press.

It does not shock Indians anymore to know that not only the politicians, ministers and IAS & IPS officers are corrupt but even the judges, professors, doctors and NGO organisations are.

Corruption is not only prevalent amongst rich who are greedy in spite of possessing enough but also prevalent amongst poor.

Now, what can be the future of the Indian society in such conditions? It can be only frustration, chaos, unrest and even bloodshed in the not too distant future. This kind of corruption in the national polity and public and private life cannot go on for ever, without disturbing the overall peace in the society. It is sad that those who are in charge of the nation today do not appear to realise this and still are merrily going ahead with their dealings unconcerned about the harm that it would inevitably do to the larger national cause.

What is very sad and extremely disquieting about this country is that Ministers suspected to be involved in murder. Chief ministers of swindling crores of public money, senior police officers of molestation charges are all living in comforts and enjoying positions, thus effectively exposing the fact that the crusade against corruption has finally failed in India.

Even as the vicious cycle of corruption would continue with one swindling the other, there could be a number of persons who would be left out of this cycle due to inefficiency or commitment to the cause of truth and such persons would be driven down to despair.

The incidents of history indicate that some of such persons who are out of the corruption loop could take up the war against corruption at one time or the other. But, they would find that in a corruption entrenched system, they would not be able to improve the conditions and therefore, a few of them may finally take to physical attack on corrupt and dishonest persons, leading to violence and bloodshed. Security, dogs and mere police rifles will not be able to beat down such determined crusaders.

The politicians and bureaucrats would call such crusaders as arsonists or terrorists. But, history would judge them differently. There are a number of determined isolated war groups already existing in the country and they are generally branded as terrorist groups and treated brutally by the state machinery, without investigating the reasons for their existence. One would shudder to think as what would happen to the peace of the society, if such groups would enlarge in size and number.

Those holding the positions of President, Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister of this country and Chief Ministers of the states should have the wisdom to realise the potential dangers facing this corrupt ridden Indian society. They should not remain as small people who would compromise with the aspects of good governance for the sake of remaining in power for a few number of days more.

 Can India afford the luxury of its babus? In the past three and a half years, our bureaucrats – often accompanied by their spouses – travelled on international junkets to the collective tune of 5.65 crore km, which is equivalent to 70 round trips to the moon. Who paid for such high-flying extravagance? The taxpayer. Which means you.

This is far from all. In March 2008, an unseasonal Santa Claus in the guise of the Sixth Pay Commission  handed out goodies to the tune of Rs 12,500 crore for the financial year (plus Rs 18,060 crore for arrears) to 45,000 central government employees. If the Centre gives, can the states be far behind? Certainly not. Under pressure from state government employees, states too have  substantially jacked up salaries, never mind that the aggregate states’ budgetary deficit in 2004 was already a humungous Rs 1,16,000 crore.

The Pay Commission’s largesse is in stark contrast with export-related private sector industries, like IT, which in the face of a US recession (and a domestic slowdown in terms of infrastructure and tight monetary policy) have had to pare down pay and personnel to keep themselves in business. There is no denying that the private sector, by and large, still pays far more handsomely than the government. However, in order to be economically viable, the private sector must ensure that each employee brings more to the company than that employee takes out. Private sector employees have to perform or get the push. Despite the proposed performance related incentive scheme (PRIS), our babus are far less accountable. Our babus’ ‘performance’ is not assessed by the public — whom they supposedly serve, but in reality routinely stymie — but by another member of the self-serving super-scheduled tribe/caste known as babudom.

Private sector employees are subject to an implacable assessment based on CTC (cost to company). The moment an employee’s CTC outweighs the benefits the company derives from that employee, the employee is out. CTC takes into account everything from the employee’s pay and perks, to the paper clips and office stationery that the employee may be pinching for personal use.

If we want to make our babudom truly accountable, the public sector should also be made to adopt the CTC formula – cost to country. In the case of babus, CTC would include not just pay, DA, subsidised housing, etc, but also, and far more importantly, the costs incurred by the delays and time overruns caused by bureaucratic inertia or inefficiency.

Several years ago, a guesstimate exercise suggested that if the delays in all the country’s public sector projects were to be added up, they’d total more than 500 years. Which means that, theoretically, we should all be living at the time of the emperor Akbar, or thereabouts. The fact that we are not might be attributed to the get-up-and-go of private enterprise. And, of course, to the efforts, against all odds, of the relatively few, dedicated, hard-working and incorruptible public servants the country can be proud of, and who are, sadly, the exceptions that prove the misrule.

The extent of this misrule – the result of an unholy nexus between an exploitative political class that patronises sycophancy and a complaisant bureaucracy – can be gauged by the fact that of a total of 890 central infrastructure projects (power, railways, petroleum), 267 are currently running between two months and 16 years behind schedule, at an estimated delay-cost to the exchequer (apart from the budgeted cost) of Rs 20,948.69 crore. While many of these delays can be attributed to problems like shortage of funds, land acquisitions, controversies and law and order issues, ultimately most of these bottlenecks can be traced back to a lack of anticipatory thinking and forward planning on the part of the administration.

NGOs and local self-help groups, using the Right to Information Act, have been conducting ’social audits’ of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and in many districts have stemmed the corruption and misuse that has been rampant in the programme.
Perhaps what we need now is a larger ’social audit’ of our babudom – not just to affix blame, but, equally importantly, to identify and reward praiseworthy performance, using the cost to country rubric. The only problem is that the babu audit would be run by – who else? – babus. With the result that it might end up costing the country too much to figure out just how much our babus are costing the country.

•December 3: Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) officials unearth assets worth Rs 5 crore from Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation Assistant City Planner L Bikshapathi including 26 residential plots.

•December 18: ACB arrests Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation Town Planning Supervisor P Srinivas Das after it unearthed assets worth Rs 1.14 crore during raids at his residence and office besides Rs 29 lakhs in cash.

The magnitude of disproportionate assets amassed by engineers of government departments, particularly those of the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) and Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has raised several eyebrows, even in the seasoned ACB.

What has come as a shock is that apart from the discovery of assets like land and houses, the usual suspects in such raids, these raids have thrown up hordes of the choicest luxury items. Collections of watches of top international brands like Rado and Gucci, gold-tipped Cross and Mont Blanc pens, chunks of gold, teak wood and marble stone godowns and multi-storied apartments are some of the assets owned by these government employees.

“It clearly shows the kind of lifestyle these officials were leading in spite of having a very limited legal income. They had become used to brazen indulgences in everything that is the most luxurious and expensive,” says ACB Director General of Police Girish Kumar.

•December 24: ACB unearths disproportionate assets worth Rs 3.32 crore during raids at the residence and offices of Irrigation Department Deputy Executive Engineer O Govind Reddy.

•December 28: Assets worth Rs 1.61 crore unearthed from Chief Engineer of the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) Vivek Deshmukh, including a collection of luxury wrist watches.

Hyderabad is the most corrupt city in India, former director general of police T S Rao said at a seminar on `Corruption: its preventive measures’ organised by Raksha, an organisation floated to work for a corruption-free society, here on Sunday. Rao said India has two problems, one of them being terrorism and the other corruption. “We need a people’s movement to get rid of this problem and but Hyderabad is not responsive to such movements,” he said. Justice J Chalameshar of the Andhra Pradesh High Court lamented that corruption has become a way of life in the city. “Corruption is not just restricted to taking money, but even when you recommend someone, it is an act of corruption,” he said. Having stated the problem, the meeting took up solutions. “We should begin the cleansing of society from the ground level,” L V Subramanyam, vice-chairman and managing director of the Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh, said. “When politicians are corrupt, the public punishes them by not giving them votes in the next election. But if bureaucrats and lower-rung officials are corrupt, then the people must take some action and complain to the Lok Ayukta,” Subramanyam said. B Prasad Rao, director of the Anti-Corruption Bureau and K G Shankar, law secretary of Andhra Pradesh also spoke at the function.

In a move that will shame corrupt babus and make ministries and government departments lose face for misdemeanours by their employees, the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) has started putting up on its website names of those officials against whom it has advised sanction for prosecution or imposition of penalty.

The first such list of officials, against whom the CVC has advised various actions for alleged corruption, include names of 258 officials, with the Ministries of Railways and Home, public sector banks, insurance companies, ONGC, Central Board of Direct Taxes, Delhi Development Authority and Municipal Corporation of Delhi leading the list of infamy.

The names have been put up by the CVC as part of its activities in July this year, making it imperative that it would put up such lists on the public domain every month, making life difficult for errant babus. In July, the Commission disposed off 522 cases referred to it for advice. Also, recoveries to the tune of Rs 90 lakh were effected after it conducted technical examination of some departments.

According to the data, during July itself, the CVC advised imposition of major penalty against 101 officers, including 17 from public sector banks, 16 from insurance companies, 13 from DDA, 11 each from ONGC and MCD, nine from Ministry of Railways, seven from Central Coalfields Ltd, five from Department of Coal, and two each from Department of Posts, CBDT and CBEC.

It also advised initiation of major penalty proceedings against 135 officers, which include 31 from public sector banks, 29 from Ministry of Railways, 13 from MCD, seven each from DDA, CBDT and FCI, five from CBEC, four each from Department of Telecommunications, Central Coalfields Ltd and Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas, three from New Mangalore Port Trust, and two each from NHAI, ICAR, Department of Atomic Energy, and Ministry of External Affairs.

It also advised the administrative authorities of various ministries to launch prosecution against 22 officers, including seven each from CBDT and Ministry of Home Affairs and two each from Ministry of Environment & Forests and MCD.

During the month, competent administrative authorities issued sanctions for prosecution against 26 officers coming under CVC jurisdiction, imposed major penalty on 65 officers, and “stiff major penalty” was imposed on seven officers.

The list includes six senior officers of the rank of joint secretary or equivalent and above. The CVC sometime back instructed all the government departments to put in place a mechanism to ensure that all complaints received in by them against any of their employees being involved in alleged corruption, malpractices or misconduct would “necessarily” be sent to their respective central vigilance officer for scrutiny and action.
This measure is aimed at making it sure that no such complaint escapes scrutiny of the CVOs.

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