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Competence and corruption: The Hindu
New Delhi, June 13: These days, one often hears the statement that so and so is bold and daring to be corrupt, i.e. corruption is identified with daring, boldness and competence. A moment of reflection on the right lines will reveal that corruption is to be identified with the very antithesis of these.
New Delhi, June 13: These days, one often hears the statement that so and so is bold and daring to be corrupt, i.e. corruption is identified with daring, boldness and competence. A moment of reflection on the right lines will reveal that corruption is to be identified with the very antithesis of these.
Taking a common example of malpractice in examinations, it is easily seen that a student who is not competent and who is afraid that he/she may fail in the examination takes to corrupt practices. This is true of every other corrupt practice. Thus one who is corrupt is not bold or daring but is afraid; is not competent but does not possess knowledge and skills that are expected of that person.
Secondly, corruption is usually identified with taking bribes. But corruption is something much more than that. Bribe taking is only a manifestation of the corruption that is deep-rooted in the system. Corruption is rottenness. When a fruit gets rotten, it only means that in the race between human being and the bacteria, the latter have won. In society, if the ideal human beings are alert, corruption and corrupt individuals will go into hiding.
Corruption is referred to as oozhal in Tamil, which means that the rule (oozh) is not being followed (al). One who is competent will be able to act as per the standard requirements. Those who are not competent will fail to live up to the standards. Thus in a society, if incompetent people are placed in responsible positions they will not be able to deliver what is expected of one holding that position, i.e. the quality as well as the quantity of work will suffer. The work may not be executed as per schedule.
In such a society, the essential items of work will be delayed or even left undone. The people may be doing the things that are not worth doing. Everybody will be busy; they will only multiply the work; nobody will be involved in completing the essential work. With the passage of time, the workforce and workload will increase; but not much worthwhile work will go on. Many persons in responsible positions may hesitate to take decisions. Those who wield political power will take more and more ad hoc and arbitrary decisions. For those at lower levels, survival becomes the most important and only criterion for all thinking, talking and action, i.e. their thought, word and deed are all conditioned by the sole aim of survival. These are the indicators of a corrupt society.
In such a society, if anyone wishes something to be done, he/she will have to pay additionally for the same, i.e. there is an exchange of money from the one who wants a favour or a work to be done to one who is in the authoritative position to concede the favour or do the work, as the case may be.
From the foregoing, it is seen that in order to control corruption, the competence of the individuals and society as a whole will have to be enhanced. A person who is competent will demand and get the due for his services through lawful means. There is no need for him/her to think of taking bribes. Thus, in a society of competent people there is no place for corruption.
If a society is genuinely interested in controlling corruption, it will foster competence. It will take all steps to improve the efficiency of everyone of its members. It will not entrust public or private work to one just because he/she is known to those in power. Thiruvalluvar, the great Tamil saint, said: "Selection of one, who does not possess the knowledge and skill required to do a duty, for other reasons such as liking the individual will only lead to sorrow." (Kural 507)
It is time people realised that those who are corrupt are generally cowards and are incompetent and therefore do not deserve respect or important positions in public offices.
Lastly, corruption has to be controlled if the civilised society is to be sustained. Saiva Siddhantha points out that Pati, Pasu and Paasam are eternal. Pati referes to God; Pasu refers to soul and Paasam refers to corrupting influence. The corrupting influence is also eternal and hence will always exist, but it can be kept under control. If society is able to keep the corrupting influence under control, it will be sustained. Otherwise, it will disappear. If one looks at history, several civilisations which flourished at one time vanished later not because of lack of resources, but because of the failure of human beings to control corruption and prevent setting in of rottenness.
Taking a common example of malpractice in examinations, it is easily seen that a student who is not competent and who is afraid that he/she may fail in the examination takes to corrupt practices. This is true of every other corrupt practice. Thus one who is corrupt is not bold or daring but is afraid; is not competent but does not possess knowledge and skills that are expected of that person.
Secondly, corruption is usually identified with taking bribes. But corruption is something much more than that. Bribe taking is only a manifestation of the corruption that is deep-rooted in the system. Corruption is rottenness. When a fruit gets rotten, it only means that in the race between human being and the bacteria, the latter have won. In society, if the ideal human beings are alert, corruption and corrupt individuals will go into hiding.
Corruption is referred to as oozhal in Tamil, which means that the rule (oozh) is not being followed (al). One who is competent will be able to act as per the standard requirements. Those who are not competent will fail to live up to the standards. Thus in a society, if incompetent people are placed in responsible positions they will not be able to deliver what is expected of one holding that position, i.e. the quality as well as the quantity of work will suffer. The work may not be executed as per schedule.
In such a society, the essential items of work will be delayed or even left undone. The people may be doing the things that are not worth doing. Everybody will be busy; they will only multiply the work; nobody will be involved in completing the essential work. With the passage of time, the workforce and workload will increase; but not much worthwhile work will go on. Many persons in responsible positions may hesitate to take decisions. Those who wield political power will take more and more ad hoc and arbitrary decisions. For those at lower levels, survival becomes the most important and only criterion for all thinking, talking and action, i.e. their thought, word and deed are all conditioned by the sole aim of survival. These are the indicators of a corrupt society.
In such a society, if anyone wishes something to be done, he/she will have to pay additionally for the same, i.e. there is an exchange of money from the one who wants a favour or a work to be done to one who is in the authoritative position to concede the favour or do the work, as the case may be.
From the foregoing, it is seen that in order to control corruption, the competence of the individuals and society as a whole will have to be enhanced. A person who is competent will demand and get the due for his services through lawful means. There is no need for him/her to think of taking bribes. Thus, in a society of competent people there is no place for corruption.
If a society is genuinely interested in controlling corruption, it will foster competence. It will take all steps to improve the efficiency of everyone of its members. It will not entrust public or private work to one just because he/she is known to those in power. Thiruvalluvar, the great Tamil saint, said: "Selection of one, who does not possess the knowledge and skill required to do a duty, for other reasons such as liking the individual will only lead to sorrow." (Kural 507)
It is time people realised that those who are corrupt are generally cowards and are incompetent and therefore do not deserve respect or important positions in public offices.
Lastly, corruption has to be controlled if the civilised society is to be sustained. Saiva Siddhantha points out that Pati, Pasu and Paasam are eternal. Pati referes to God; Pasu refers to soul and Paasam refers to corrupting influence. The corrupting influence is also eternal and hence will always exist, but it can be kept under control. If society is able to keep the corrupting influence under control, it will be sustained. Otherwise, it will disappear. If one looks at history, several civilisations which flourished at one time vanished later not because of lack of resources, but because of the failure of human beings to control corruption and prevent setting in of rottenness.