GUWAHATI, Aug 20 � With the anti-corruption movement gaining momentum all over the country, The Assam Tribune tries to highlight some instances of corruption faced by the people in daily life, which includes seeking bribe even to issue a death certificate.
When contacted to know about his personal experience of corruption, former principal of the Gauhati Medical College, Dr AK Barooah admitted that he has seen or faced corruption on different occasions in his life. He said that perhaps the worst experience that he had was that a dealing assistant sought a bribe to issue the death certificate when his wife breathed her last in 2004.
Dr Barooah said that he witnessed another major irregularity during his time as the principal of the GMC. He said that there were some major irregularities in selection of candidates for admissions into the medical colleges and he disassociated himself from the selection committee in protest. In fact, the matter also went to the court during that time. He admitted that he had seen a number of other instances of corruption but one such case is now in the ambit of the court and he does not have proof of other such cases.
Dr Barooah said that he has full support to the anti-corruption movement and �the silver lining is that most of the people who are in the movement are young people from different walks of life. Youths are supporting the anti-corruption movement spontaneously,� he added. He also lamented that though India gained independence, no serious effort was made to build up national character and that is why the country is witnessing large-scale corruption.
Former Director of Technical Education, Prof U Miri admitted that most people face corruption in every step of life, which is very unfortunate. Citing one personal experience, he said that once he was asked to pay a certain amount to get a land document. �I still feel that what was demanded from me was more than the official rate and by paying the amount, I abetted corruption. Moreover, no receipt was paid to me for the amount paid,� he added.
Miri pointed out that if any person has to wait for days to get a simple job done in a Government office, that too amounts to corruption.
Principal of the KC Das Commerce College, Hitesh Deka said that his college is a major victim of corruption. He revealed that in 1998, the Government initiated steps to bring 19 colleges of the State under the deficit grant-in-aid system but all the posts of the KC Das Commerce College were not sanctioned because the college refused to pay the bribe of Rs 1 lakh sought by a middleman. He said that the college is yet to get sanction for the posts as per the guidelines of the Government and the Gauhati University and the authorities are facing a tough time in paying the salaries of those working against non-sanctioned posts. �We have been suffering for years only because of corruption in the education department,� Deka said.
Deka further said that corruption is affecting every sphere of life and asserted that �political corruption� is the root cause of the problem.
