Hi folks,

In an increasingly materialistic world, it is too much to expect great leaders to come up in our current political milieu. Most of us standing against corruption from the civil society are also not quite paragons of virtue. We need systemic solutions. We need to make:

(i) the cost of wrong-doing in public space very high, much, much higher than the benefits (for example, life imprisonment or even capital punishment in extreme cases),

(ii) the probability of punishment very high, and

(iii) the speed of punishment rapid too.

If we need to have a re-look at some of the basic tenets of our legal system (e.g., the notion that "a 1000 culprits can escape, but one innocent should not be punished",... at least in public space, with some intelligently crafted balances; e.g., anyone who gives/ instigates false complaints about public servants with ulterior motives could also be made suffer similar punishments).

Tough in deed, since the politicians and legal fraternity will resist it very hard. Even many others who are neutral will find it hard to accept, due to our mindsets.

But if we do succeed, 2 things will happen:

(i) Those who come into public space to benefit personally will find it unattractive and so will go elsewhere, and

(ii) The public spirited people will find it easier to enter, with the entry barriers having been knocked off.

Till we accomplish the above 3 substantially, we'll continue to remain where we are. It will be a case of "cop and the thieves", the cops being the public spirited and the thieves being those who misuse power.

Ganesan. :~(