The scams of the Delhi government exemplify the selfsame brazen looting. The story of 400 plus fake appointments by the current Delhi government is an astounding saga of lies and deceit. This is such a blatant act of commission. It is unthinkable that any Chief Minister, to fulfill his own political ambitions, will stoop to the unprecedented level of committing the heinous crime of funding his political campaign by directly misusing government funds, writes former IAS officer V.S.Pandey
The ethical political philosophy of ancient Greece extolling the philosopher King, Confucianism emphasising virtue as the bedrock of politics and detachment from power and pelf defining the likes of great Kings like Janak in ancient Bharat are iconic and should be the markers of politics. Tragically, it is the sixteenth- century realpolitik of Machiavelli, as embodied in The Prince, that continues to validate 21st century advocacy of the necessity of deception and amorality in politics worldwide. The twentieth and twenty- first centuries have witnessed humungous examples of political fraud and deceit: from the Goebellian propaganda of Adolf Hitler to the Pentagon Papers and the fake narrative by political leaders about the certainty and threatening nature of the intelligence relating to Iraq and Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) in the period before the invasion in 2003. It is therefore, not surprising, that we live in times of profound distrust of politics and politicians and their unprincipled machinations to gain power. The abyss seems bottomless. Corruption is the natural outcome of this unethical political trajectory.
The scams of the current Delhi government exemplify the selfsame brazen looting. The story of 400 plus fake appointments by the current Delhi government is an astounding saga of lies and deceit .This is such a blatant act of commission. It is unthinkable that any Chief Minister, to fulfill his own political ambitions, will stoop to the unprecedented level of committing the heinous crime of funding his political campaign by directly misusing government funds.
The appointment of 400 plus so-called consultants, in complete violation of all established laws and government regulations, is unprecedented anywhere in our country. As per media reports, the Delhi Government, in its various departments and agencies had hired these individuals as Fellows, Advisers, Specialists, Senior Research Officers and Consultants. It is alleged that these private persons, who according to reports appearing in media are either close relatives of Delhi government ministers and other party leaders or are full time party functionaries, had been engaged in a non-transparent manner, without the mandatory approvals of the competent authority, by flouting the constitutional provisions of reservation and through backdoor entry and lacking the requisite qualifications and experience.
Unbelievably, as the enquiry report submitted to LG in this matter has pointed out- the administrative departments concerned also did not verify the veracity of work experience certificates submitted by these private persons, which were later found to be fudged and manipulated in several cases. The list of misdeeds and corruption cases of the current Delhi government is increasing relentlessly. Beginning with the multi-billion-rupee excise scam, security button scandal, commission in public works construction, sheesh mahal scandal and now this massive recruitment scandal involving hundreds of crores of public funds, they all point towards one fact -that Mr. Kejariwal thinks that he is a law onto himself and once he has the electoral mandate, he has the license to do anything. He, like every elected leader, is the creation of the supreme law of our land, our constitution, which he is violating, with impunity, at his own peril. Doing politics with tax payers’ money is a new mantra he has devised -which unfortunately will inspire others of his ilk. They will aim to grab political power by promising their men that the lucrative public exchequer is there to be exploited and all the party workers will be paid salaries worth lakhs per month by appointing them as consultants, advisors, management experts later in government. This practice is unprecedented in the annals of our country. This present scandal is serious and has sinister connotations for our political life-it should not end with the removal of these four hundred and twenty-seven political workers. This matter must be handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation, CBI, to carry out a thorough investigations into this scam, so that all those involved in this egregious brazen criminal offence are put behind bars including the kingpin. In addition, the recovery of hundreds of crores of rupees paid illegally to these appointees must be recovered from those found guilty.
It is clear that our unscrupulous political class has failed to learn the salutary lesson from Mr. Lalu Prasad Yadav- who despite enjoying political clout, had to go to jail several times, was convicted multiple times and was finally barred from contesting elections. Current politicians must remember that they are also not above the law which sooner than later will catch up with them. The crooked timber of humanity must self-correct fast.
(Vijay Shankar Pandey is former Secretary Government of India)
