Dear editor,
Corruption has ceased to be a shameless act. Anyone rendering service without corruption in government office is called, rather condemned, an employee incapable of accepting and digesting the bribe amount. Sense of shame for stretching out hand for illegal gratification does not cross the mind. A case of an officer caught red-handed by Jarkhand Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) while accepting the bribe of Rs. 10000 on the very first day of office after posting has been reported. The officer involved in bribery case is Mithali Sharma, Assistant Registrar in Co-operative Society in Jarkhand but “inexperienced” and “untrained” bribemonger. To be still precise an “L” board in the art of making money through unfair means. She is said to have scored 108th rank in JPSC Examination. Probationary period is prescribed to watch the integrity and conduct of the employee before the first annual increment is released. Many cases of employees accepting bribe during probationary period go unnoticed and unreported.
This “ill-fated” officer was probably caught unaware that the complainant Rameshwara Prasad Yadav would lodge a complaint against her in the ACB for demanding Rs. 20000 but was settled for Rs. 10000. Yadav is a member in Coderma Vyapar Mandal Sahog Samithi Limited. He was reportedly issued a show cause notice seeking an information from him which he had not known.
The demand by Sharma was reportedly made to save Yadav from the disciplinary action. If the charge against her is proved, she must be imposed a penalty nothing short of dismissal. Dismissal means only no work and no pay. Beyond dismissal, an employee accepting bribe must be jailed. Corruption cannot be eradicated by catching just one or two here and there. The government must appoint anti-corruption officers commensurate with the increasing number of employees hankering after bribe in government departments. Bribery is an “investment” made at the time of recruitment for a “fair return” after recruitment. Seeds of corruption yield fruits of corruption only. It tastes sweet to the bribe mongers and bitter to the givers. Corruption has become a way of life.
Corrupt officers or officials like Sharma must be nipped in the bud. If employees start bribery from day one, and if they are allowed to go-scot free, the tribe of such employees grows to an unimaginable height. A time may come when an employee with least number of cases of bribery at his/her (dis)credit in the service will have to be honoured with highest civilian awards.
K.V. Seetharamaiah.