‘You’ change and ‘We’ll’ change with ‘You’, for ‘You’ pull our strings
As govt. servants, we are often blamed for the ills of our society, especially corruption, by vox populi. This apportioning of blame is often one sided and unjust, without consideration of the roles of other stakeholders in the system.
‘‘You’’ will appreciate, that like ‘‘You’’, the citizen, who avails of our services, we too are citizens, who look forward to better living conditions in life – the correct and legal way. And like ‘You’, we too are of the opinion that the corruption in the State and Central Government departments must end, but the question is how? The solution we believe has to involve the other two stakeholders in the Government eco system – ‘‘You’’ and the ‘elected representatives’.
Let’s see how ‘You’ can help solve this problem?
‘You’ often approach various Government departments like property sub registrar, RTO, Survey, Municipality, Corporation, Health, Education, Commercial Taxes, Customs, Income Tax and many more, but the biggest known source of black money generation through bribery, is the Sub registrar office.
There has to be a reason. Many a time, it is the under valuation of the property to save on stamp duty, and sometimes to cover up false or inadequate documentation. In all these cases ‘‘You’’ have a stake in the transaction and therefore it is ‘‘You’’ who bribe for ‘You’r own benefit and create a parallel economy.
Why do ‘You’ do this? Instead why don’t ‘You’ tell the seller of the property that ‘You’ don’t have black money and ‘You’ want to register the full value of the property and want to pay tax or ‘You’ don’t want to cheat with false documents or inadequate documents? This way, ‘You’ won’t have to pay a bribe. The same applies to all govt. departments as far as ‘You’ are concerned.
You know, ‘You’ can bring change wherever ‘You’ are. Do not allow undervaluation, ask for bills with taxes and pay accordingly. Demand invoices from lawyers, doctors, chartered accountants for the service they render ‘You’, and if possible pay by cheque.
If ‘You’ are a businessman, small or big, issue bills for all sales, collect tax and pay them.
So ‘You’ can make a difference, and reduce bribery and black money. It is not enough that each one of ‘You’ vote during the elections but it is important to say no when it comes to pushing your requirements illegally at various Government departments.
If in spite of this, any one of ‘us’ pressurize ‘You’ to pay under the table, then ‘You’ must complain to the anti-corruption police, take courage, name the person and help the anti-corruption department to cleanse the evil.
Once ‘You’ say no, the other culprit is the elected representative. In fact, he is the one who controls the black money. He wants our officers to collect bribe from the people approaching these departments and give a share for the next five years so that he can recover the election expenses. He makes the super profit from the budget expenditure by fake bills and over billing and billing for work not done from contractors and subcontractors.
Listen O , you, the elected representatives, why don’t you serve the people instead of harassing them? Why don’t you be honest in your service? As an ‘elected representative’ you are getting salary and benefits from the Government and this should be sufficient for you’. You don’t have to buy votes with cash, liquor, sarees and the like. Reduce your election expenses, stay within the limits and be true to the objective of politics, and then alone can you serve the people. If you spend lavishly, it is your problem, don’t look for return on your investment through us, this is not business but it’s a service to the nation. Remember the oath that you take when assuming office. Once you are clean, then you will not pressurize ‘us’ and corruption should end.
Change or else…..
Believe us, when we say, that ‘You’ and the elected representatives pull our strings. It is upto both of ‘You’ to rein in yourselves, to bring about change. Only ‘‘You’’ can do it. We can’t.
