And I’m talking about corruption in India. So does Kanchan Gupta over here. He quotes Sardar Patel, who called Indian Civil Service the “steel frame” that would hold India. And gives us some insights.

If you are willing to go to any extent to promote self over others, then you are sharp and street smart. In the Darwinian matrix of survival of the fittest, the worst are the best because they alone can survive.

Nothing else explains the astonishing impunity with which L V Saptharishi, a senior civil servant of the twice-born Indian Administrative Service, has flouted rules in his search for a post-retirement sinecure. [...] Saptharishi is a West Bengal cadre officer, which means he should be working for the government in that state instead of the Union government in New Delhi. Normally, state cadre officers are allowed a stint with the Union government, but they have to revert to their cadre after three years.

This is a rule that is followed more in the breach than in practice. [...] Ever since Indira Gandhi encouraged the nation to accept corruption as a way of life, the loot of public funds by our politicians has come to enjoy a certain legitimacy.

We are reluctant to admit it, but in India, which has been ranked 90th… among 145 countries where corrupt practices were scrutinised by Transparency International (the higher the rank, the more corrupt the country)…

I believe just 2 (or was it 1?) years ago, India stood at 73. It seems our Ruling Deities are not content with all the economic progress we’ve made: they are equally keen to bring the same pace of development in corruption.

Many Indian bloggers resent the fact that India (and Indians) is interpreted by Westerners wearing only the caste, cow, and curry lenses. To serve their biased cause better, I’d add corruption to the list to make it, caste, corruption, cow, and curry.

Among the other blunders our first leaders of independent India committed, retaining the bureaucracy was the biggest. It was–and remains–a parasitic structure designed to feed off the hard work of the “natives.” Like I read somewhere, we’re still slaves: only, the colour of the ruling class is the same as ours.