MORAL BANKRUPTCY & INAPTITUDE

IN THE MIDST OF uplifting news on the economy front – thanks to a very sensible budget – and also glimmers of hope from Paris, two terrible recent news must make us all lower our heads in shame and do some deep introspection about where we are heading on the moral front.

- Krishan Kalra

After all we are all aware that no nation can aspire to become great unless – in addition to economic indicators, infrastructure build-up and institutional strengthening – all citizens, especially those in positions of power and with responsibility of controlling lives of others, also become honest and diligent.

The two sad developments: uIAS officer Khedkar’s shameful saga and v tragic death of three young students at a South Delhi coaching centre have shaken people to the core and left us wondering if we are rapidly sinking to a state of ‘moral bankruptcy’?

Where are We Going Wrong?

Not that these two incidents are new; sadly such things keep happening all the time; but the fact that an IAS officer – one from the highest ‘steel frame’ that administers the country – was involved in all kinds of skullduggery and three aspirants for the elite central civil services lost their lives in a totally avoidable mishap, must lead us all – political leadership, administrators, civic officials, intelligentsia, academia, civil society and the fourth estate collectively, to put our heads together and think where are we going wrong.

That Puja Khedkar was able to “exceed the attempts limit” – even if she was the sole candidate to do so amongst 15,000 candidates since 2009 – speaks volumes about the efficacy of those in charge of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) the top, highly admired institution that examines and selects the best amongst the best who would rule the country.