‘Corrupt officials are also efficient, diligent’
By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: Are corrupt officials more dedicated officers? An interesting observation from State Information Commissioner (SIC), GP Wahlang is that corrupt officials are also more dedicated to their work than others.
“It is my experience that corrupt officers put in more hard work compared to those officials who are not corrupt,” Wahlang said while speaking on the topic “Causes of Corruption” during a seminar on corruption organized by KJP Synod Sepngi, Christian Education Department here on Monday.
“We find such officers even in our Main Secretariat. These corrupt officers share a good rapport with politicians. Politicians like them because they can move the files faster, ” Wahlang, who is also a former IAS officer, said while adding that such officers are self-serving and are on the look out to earn a fast buck through wrongful means.
While clarifying that he is not justifying the wrong doings of the corrupt officials, Wahlang said that he was just trying to give the true picture how corruption is controlling the whole system.
Taking into account that 70 per cent of the State’s population is Christian, Wahlang said that it is hard to believe that corruption is rampant here.
“We should have been a model State which is free of corruption if all the people are truly God fearing. But the irony is that those who claim to be believers in God also indulge in corrupt practices,” the State Information Commissioner said adding, “This clearly shows there is no God among us”.
He said that the main factors leading to corruption are the growing cult of materialism and the deafening of conscience.
Wahlang also informed that India is ranked 84th among the corrupt countries in the world as per the findings of the Transparency International, the global civil society organization leading the fight against corruption.
Transparency International findings also mention that New Zealand is ranked as the least corrupt country while Somalia ranks at the bottom as the most corrupt one.
Wahlang cited what the former Central Vigilance Commissioner Pratyush Sinha had said about the percentage of those indulging in corruption. Sinha said 20 percent of the population in India do not indulge in corrupt activities, 30 percent are highly corrupt and 50 percent of them indulge in some corrupt practices at one time or the other.
Earlier, Rev MJ Hynniewta , Principal John Robert’s Theological Seminary (JRTS) said he firmly believed that the church should play a pro-active role in the eradication of corruption from the society.
“The church needs to take a stand. When someone donates money to the church they should dare to ask from where this money has come” Hynniewta said while speaking on the topic “Cause of Corruption”. He said that at present the church on good faith willingly accepts the money without asking from which sources it has come.
“It is a fact that people who can contribute more are well respected in the church even if the money donated has come through wrong means” Rev Hynniewta said while adding, “Corruption is also present in the church and we cannot deny this”. This is the first time that a church group has drawn attention to corruption and is making it a public issue for discussion.
Source: The Shillong Times
