Letter to Sukhbir S. Badal, ‘Corruption is promoted from the top and not the bottom,’ on 25/01/2009

Mr Sukhbir Badal, MP

Deputy Chief Minister

Punjab

25 January 2009

Dear Sukhbir,

Corruption is promoted from the top and not the bottom!!!

Congratulations on your assumption of the new post. I am certain that you will bring to the Punjab Vidhan Sabha all the highlights of your illustrious Parliamentary career, including your industrious work rate, your exemplary attendance record, and your frequent barrage ofstions, together with your great wit, sharp intelligence and incisive mind.

All politicians assuming a new post are entitled to a honeymoon period, but I am surprised that you are utilising your best endeavours to ensure that this is as short as possible.

Your recent statements that “corruption starts from the bottom” and is “largely at lower levels” could not be further from the truth.

As every socio-economic expert will tell you: corruption starts from the top and with the passage of time it becomes institutionalised primarily by the acts and failings of our political leaders to the extent that soon a well entrenched system emerges which funnels the gains of corruption across all strata of the administration from bottom to top.

If you truly want to reduce corruption in Punjab you need to start at the top by:

controlling the actions of your Council of Ministers and senior officers by reducing their discretionary powers creating greater transparency in their working making your administration satisfy all RTI requests within the stipulated time frame ensuring that all government procurement is by an e-enabled tender process setting up a Punjab Public Servant Transfer Commission, which will be responsible for the posting and transfer of all gazetted officers ensuring that your administration complies in a time-bound manner with the finite orders of the judiciary. enforcing a concurrent independent audit on all government expenditure and revenue collection publishing on the internet all file proceedings and notes relating to each and every CLU request Most importantly,

as the Deputy Chief Minister you can lead by example by:

not only being honest but also being universally perceived as being honest rejecting an ostentatious life style that mirrors all the trappings of royalty ensuring that no tainted officer is accommodated in your support team nor has access to you rejecting all approaches from drug peddlers, land grabbers and looters of the public purse publish weekly source and application statements of your party of which you continue to be the President swearing at the Harmandir Sahib that, henceforth, all of your actions will be above board, honest and beyond scrutiny.

I wish you well but I fear that you may fall short of public expectations.

Regards,

Jassi Khangura MLA

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