Corruption and the aam admi
The biggest difficulty of removing corruption from India is that the aam admi’s hatred of corruption extends only to other people’s corruption. They are quite comfortable with their own, which, in their opinion is not corruption at all, but a perk of office to which they are entitled. Take for instance the newspapers who pontificate on corruption and its influence. They are quite ok with paid news, which all newspapers appear to indulge in provided the price is right. An official report on this issue was never even reported on by any newspaper and it was quietly buried. Take our industrialists. They yell about corruption and subsidies, but are the biggest bribe givers and cheerfully swallow subsidies galore. (By one account, the revered Tatas got Rs 33,000 crores as subsidy to set up the Nano factory in Gujarat. This report also, I notice got no airing in the newspapers.) Or come closer home. There is no practicing doctor who does not accept gifts, money, travel benefits and other