Right from the government servants to the police officials and politicians all are actively involved in the corrupt activities within the state. With more than 1400 cases of corruption pending before the Directorate of Vigilance since 2001 against the serving officers of various departments in the state, the bar of corruption is on the rise in Goa. This is a serious sign of degrading ethics and complete failure of the system in the state.
Corruption is one of the major problems in this country. It not only has an adverse effect on the economy but also depletes the overall morality of the jobs. Every Indian at some point of their time has fallen into the pit of bribe and under-the-table dealings.
According to a study conducted by the Transparency International in 2005 recorded that more than 92% of Indians had at some point or another paid a bribe to a public official to get a job done. In a study conducted in 2008, Transparency International reported that about 50% of Indians had firsthand experience of paying bribes or using contacts to get services performed by public offices.
It is also shocking to know that Transparency International’s 2017 Corruption Perception Index ranks the country 81st place out of 180 countries. India has been infamously known as a corrupted place. The tiniest state in the country too has its share of corruption. From police to Government officials, Goa is corrupted in its system in many ways. The political System to educational system all has its hand in this state going corrupt.
According to a revelation by the Herald Goa, it is found out that over 1,408 cases of complaints against serving officers lie pending with Directorate of Vigilance since 2001. Of these, 453 cases are against gazetted officers and 955 against non-gazetted officers and others in various departments, semi-government and autonomous bodies under the government of Goa.
What is shocking is that this is a gross violation of Central Civil Services (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules, 1965 that lays down a specific period of six months in which a complaint against an official should be investigated and disposed of. Between 2001 and 2010, 476 complaints were filed against Goa government officials yet not a single one was disposed of. Thereafter the maximum number of cases disposed of in a year was 6% in 2012.
The rising numbers till date are still shocking. The Goans may have to re-think about the delivery of justice from the Goa Government. It is not new news that Goa Police have been involved with crimes and corruption. In a sad revelation, the Goan police are involved having links with pimps and are also seen taking bribes from people when caught drinking and creating the nuisance.
In the recent news that came into light, a police sub-inspector, Prasanna Bhagat, was convicted by the principal sessions court, Margao, under the Prevention of Corruption Act. The accused will now be heard on the point of sentence on January 30.
According to Times of India, The case of the prosecution was that Bhagat, then attached to the Cuncolim police station, demanded and accepted cash of Rs one lakh from interested parties while investigating into a case of drowning on July 8, 2011.
It is utterly shameful that the people appointed to safeguard our interests are the ones who are exploiting them. What is more pitiful is that there are no actions taken against these officials most of the time.
People feel that they can get away with anything by just throwing some amount of money. This practice needs to be stopped and the Government must take stern actions against such violators. Corruption has indeed become a deep-rooted issue in Indian society and must be weeded out.
