grab grab grab

There used to be a time when people got in to public life, both politics and administration to provide public service. I remember my dad who used to proudly call himself a Government servant.Public service was considered the highest possible career option, and I still recollect spending months learning European history, so I too could become an IAS officer. Thank God I did not make the cut.

The politicians used to be outstanding examples of public probity, and were poorly paid but richly respected for the sacrifices they made to be of service to the people.

In less than 20 years how things have changed.

Politicians are now grabbing everything they can get, and the most passionately debated subject in parliament revolves round their own salaries and perquisites. Their cost to the exchequer is now well over 100 times our per capita income. And this does not include the much larger rewards in terms of bribes and other unmentionable fringe benefits. And they want more..All the time.

The so called Government servants are now masters of the universe, and command and get privileges that the common man can only dream about. Little does the common man know that he is paying for all of this. Whether it is bending the rules on coastal construction, Floor space Index, security, you name it, they have bent it like Beckham, either for money or to acccomodate themselves in sylvan surroundings. The Adarsh controversy in Mumbai, and the latest proposal to allot the CWG flats to themselves are but tips of the iceberg of corruption, which we all tolerate.

And shamelessly they grab more for themselves.And helplessly we watch this pillaging and looting of our country.