I expresses grave concern over the state of governance in our country, which in recent months has touched such a low that even a normally reticent industrialist had to warn the government about turning the nation into a banana republic.

To begin with, there is no evidence that politicians are treated at par with citizens when they commit crimes. This is unacceptable because political leaders being role models should be awarded much more exemplary punishment and sooner, compared to an ordinary citizen for a similar crime. While the head of a corporate entity has been imprisoned, politicians with seemingly greater frauds against their names are roaming the world like dignitaries.

It is also unacceptable that after their crimes are detected – usually by the media and not by our high-cost crime busting agencies – they simply resign, wait for a cooling off period and are back in business.


Over a span of 25 years - between Bofors and Adarsh Society - a wide range of major scams have been unearthed by the media. These have unequivocally nailed the government from top to bottom. Yet, like slippery eels, the politician always gets away, presumably with generous help from the government itself.

The time has come when the civil society tells the Prime Minister “WE WANT OUR MONEY BACK”. You cannot preside over a government that has squandered away tens of thousands of crores of public money, ostensibly into personal coffers, and pretend as though nothing has happened. You cannot hide behind a fast eroding veneer of dubious honesty and not be accountable for spectacular fraud with the people of India. You cannot hide behind some archaic constitutional protection which allows you to be insulated from criminal misgovernance that has kept our wondrous country poor, illiterate and backward.

The time has also come for the civil society to ask the government “WHERE DID YOU GET THE MONEY FROM IN THE FIRST PLACE?” By all accounts, the original budget for the CWG was some 600 crores. Where did the government get 70,000 crores from? And if you had this kind of money, where was it hidden? Why was it not used for poverty alleviation, primary education, women’s health and for modernizing our decrepit infrastructure?