Politics and administration entrenched in sleaze!
Every accused is innocent, until proven guilty after due process of law and this holds true for one and all irrespective of their status and stature.
The recent alleged act of disgrace by a politician holding the constitutional post if proved true will be a blot on the face of democracy. At present the alleged outrageous behavior has not only dented the image of the minister concerned but has cast aspersions on the working of whole political and administrative system. In the best interest of flawless administration and unblemished political dispensation the present incident of accused transgression with far reaching implications, need to be expedited in shortest possible time and in a most transparent way. The Kashmiri saying, ‘Baane haatas demove thaane haath, aes haats kya karave’ meaning hundred holes can be plugged but how to silence hundred voices, holds appropriate under such charged atmosphere of allegations and rumors. As I said earlier, accused and the victim are right till the truth is revealed to the best satisfaction all. Any dereliction at the hands of investigating authorities in digging out the truth will further erode the credibility of existing system and obviously people will lose faith in the system.
The other aspect of this shoddy story! Why our system has stooped so low and our minds polluted to the extent that such incidents of shame occur? This particular incident apart, earlier several incidents of brazen corruption and moral degradation in corridors of power were reported. Most of such cases either proved wrong or were made to be false. Involvement of mighty and influential makes it very difficult for investigating agencies to take the matter to its logical conclusion. Time tested egalitarian system of governance has no space for acts of shame unless the system is tampered with. For last more than a decade adhocracy is being encouraged by the political rulers in this state with impunity. Adhocracy in administration has flourished for two reasons. One, because of prevailing political uncertainty that gave way to unproductive political class on pivotal constitutional assignments and second organization specific and individual political interests. To extract maximum out of the bureaucracy and the secondary administrative machinery the existing political class most of the time either circumvent the existing rules or resort to tactics that render them infructuous so as to retain ample powers within their command. Armed with unrestricted powers to interfere in administration the political leadership of the government can make any officer and official to sing to its tune. Except the creamy layer of Indian Administrative Services (IAS) and Kashmir Administrative Services (KAS) almost all cadres, particularly the technical cadres are suffering badly from the menace of adhocracy. Ad hoc assignments, elevations; promotions in own pay and grade (OPG) and transfer mafia is encouraging nepotism, corruption and now the unashamed sleaze has become part of our administrative lexicon. This is really shameful, that too when we claim to be more civilized than our ancestors!
Beginning afresh at an optimistic note! Not much sleazy muck has yet entered the corridors of power as compared to our political peers in rest of the region. So, it is time to introspect seriously and honestly with a broad based consensus to refrain from myopic constituency centric politicking and unfailingly do away with the system of adhocracy in the administration. Otherwise, if situation continue like this, we may not only be accused of ruining the administrative setup but may end up disfiguring the whole democratic structure and pushing it deep into the alleys of anarchy.
Leave a Reply