India has been a tolerant nation for long and it now wants to shed this image especially in wake of situations being tackled by certain individuals like Anna Hazare and more recently, Baba Ramdev. Anti-corruption campaigns have been on the rise in the nation’s capital and in several states. It is clear from these that citizens are motivated by these individuals and want to take the issues that have more relevance to their lives into their own hands. Baba Ramdev, the ‘sage soldier’ Yoga Guru’s planned hunger strike in New Delhi has drawn the centre’s attention and it has made a plan of action- a great one too- to appease him and not let him go ahead with it! With top officials and cognoscenti at the government’s disposal, it should work on being realistic and solve the problem of corruption instead of appeasing people going on hunger strikes. Wastage of resources for saving its ill-gotten reputation has been the priority of the government for a while now. The set of demands, presented by Swami Ramdev may be tough to achieve immediately but what the government can do to mitigate the problems that can arise if these are not met is to be truthful to the public and let them know the assets illegally stashed away in the safes in Swiss banks. Truth is a powerful weapon and the quicker the government realizes this, the better. Instead of playing petty politics on a single individual who is raising voice against the government, the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh who is considered non-corrupt and who has the decision making power of the country in his hands, should react reasonably and solve this crisis by putting forward the face of truth.
To mollify a single Baba Ramdev is foolish on the part of the government as it would not solve any purpose and as many Baba’s are in the queue for hunger strikes against the corrupt schemes of the Indian polity. An ideal solution that can help achieve transparency is to involve the public by launching a Centralised Forum to address the complaints and queries like we watch in the ‘ever-inspiring’ Bollywood movies. It is high time that the government realizes the mistake it is committing by going to individuals who are in no mood to accept defeat on the issues that have now become a raging fire in the public. Providing accurate information to the public about the assets that have take shelter in Swiss banks and the ways in which public money is being spent are very important tasks that the government has to tackle immediately. Citizens of this nation have the right to know how their tax is being utilized and it does not take time for the government to put this information on a website which the public can visit and monitor the status regularly. This has to come from the Central decision making team of the government and transparency would be achieved.
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