Officers and employees, when working honestly and with accountability, leads a society inevitably towards a prosperous and developmental state. The presence of an iota of ill-practice somewhere is bound to spread and ingrain in one if the vigil of the concerned authority slackens a bit. But Jammu and Kashmir’s Ant Corruption Bureau (ACB) has been leaving no stone unturned as in this year so far, action against around 17 bribes and 14 disproportionate cases pertaining to several department’s officers and employees of J&K have been taken.
ACB on its website clearly says how the officers and low rung employees of various departments take bribes from persons coming to their offices related to work and how former and incumbent officers amass disproportionate assets worth crores. The erring officers include Engineers, Bank officials, Pathwaris, Naib Tehsildars, Education Officers and even Police. It is unthinkable that the avaricious character arises in those who are already being paid copiously by the government for their services.
Despite that, they embezzle public money, pile up illegal assets and take bribes throughout their work period. Are these officers and employees habitual to such practices, or is it a culture within government departments, which they and their subordinates follow? Government departments can be expected to be corruption free only when there is the proper vetting of officers during their induction in services. As the authorities arrest corrupt officers, the replication of the latter’s practices could be prevented from developing among others by setting a strict precedent.