Taking a glance at the statements made by the people steering the affairs of J&K since 2014, one can expect that not even a single entity in the region has been allowed to indulge in corruption as number of times the helmsmen including the PM Narendra Modi and LG Manoj Sinha have boasted about zero tolerance against the corruption in the region, which was once infamous for being one of the most corrupt states of the country as in almost all the surveys conducted during those times, it was placed among the top five corrupt states of the country.
For sure, containing corruption in such a state was not an easy job but the claim used to come from the top echelon of power that corruption has been a thing of the past in J&K as the anti-graft bodies have been given full powers to contain the scourge.
Though challenging the claims made by the helmsmen is not at all a good idea but the figures coming to fore highlighting corruption in J&K are contrary to what is being broadcast as there is no field or sector where the corruption cases are not surfacing even after J&K’s degradation as a UT in 2019, and being governed by the centre till the installation of popular government in 2024.
The latest in the series is the case of two senior officers of Srinagar Smart City Limited, who have been booked by Jammu and Kashmir Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) in disproportionate assets (DA) cases.
The ACB had reportedly conducted secret verification before taking action against the aforementioned officers including a Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and an Executive Engineer.
It is really agonizing that contrary to what is being showcased by the government through rhetoric and even in reports in media, the situation in Jammu and Kashmir is dismal as far as prevalence of corruption is concerned because it was the first time in the history of J&K that a former governor had leveled serious allegations of corruption involving higher ups in the government and certain elite entities of the country, the recruitment processes for filling several posts in different departments were also entangled only because of alleged corruption and recent expose of rampant corruption in recruitment in Fire and Emergency department have testified beyond doubt that the time has not yet come for the helmsmen to take credit for rooting out corruption from J&K as this scourge is still giving a tough time to common man having no links with the delinquent higher ups or the corrupts dwelling in the system. Though distasteful, but it is true that corruption is very much there in J&K and is quite deep rooted.
It is therefore imperative for the people sitting at helm to come up with a more stringent plan to eradicate this ill which is eating up the vitals of society and then only expect appreciation from the stakeholders as much has to be accomplished before asking for the credit and applause.
