It is true that every penny counts. And this phrase becomes more important when it comes to a family with meager income in the present circumstances. At a time when the avenues of livelihood are shrinking, corruption is a moth that eats into the vitals of any society.
Although this menace is not new to Jammu and Kashmir like other parts of the country but the way Anti Corruption Bureau has brought some pace in its drive against this sleaze, people have started heaving a sigh of relief.
The latest incident in which an executive engineer of Jal Shakti department was caught red handed accepting a bribe amount is nothing but a tip of the iceberg. The last many decades of violence has brought lawlessness in the Kashmiri society that has not only eroded the system but has inculcated a sense of unaccountability among the officers and their subordinates in almost all the sectors of the government.
While the people should come forward in helping to weed out this menace from the society, the government should also ensure zero tolerance for corruption and arrest of any officer found involved in the bribery should be taken to task. Those officers or officials who are found guilty by the designated courts of ACB should be terminated from their services without giving them any chance to serve their departments again.
Similarly, the people should also refrain from offering bribes or luring officers to the sleaze in order to make their work done while sitting in their cozy rooms. This is the only way out to make this society corruption free, at least for an ordinary man who is compelled to pay from his nose.
