Corruption - A Threat to Meritocracy in India
Bhumesh Verma
International Corporate Lawyer | M&A | Foreign Investments | Contracts | Managing Partner @Corp Comm Legal | Adjunct Professor | Professional Upskilling and Career Coach | Author | Solution Provider
You seemingly don’t have the disability you claim …
Your use multiple names in different applications …
Your give factory address as your home address …
You provide ration card instead of Aadhaar card for identification …
You don’t appear for medical examinations to determine your disability ...
Your family seems to be a billionaire … there's a history of corruption, suspension on charges of extortion ...
You have a fleet of luxury cars …
You have big tracts of land, even allegations of grabbing others' land …
Your bungalow encroaches on public land … (bulldozer justice hasn’t taken place yet, it’s very quick towards poor people rendering them homeless)
Your family has guns to brazenly threaten neighbouring farmers (you aren't worried that it's on camera) …
You want Lal Batti on your personal car, when the PM says end ‘VIP Culture’ …
You want entitlements not befitting your training period …
When caught, you blame the people who report your misdeeds …
Need not identify the people involved. The question is how did no one ever notice any of this? Am sure many, many palms have been greased so far (and God forbid, may be greased in future to get this family out of the mess they are in).
If the allegations prove to be true, you just wonder if Indian constitution incorporated the provisions for reservations keeping such ‘poor’ and ‘helpless’ people in mind.
I am sure this is not an isolated case, there are many more who are undetected and continue to loot the country and commit a fraud on the exchequer, public resources and faith in the system.
When unqualified or undeserving individuals are appointed to positions of power and authority, it can understandably be demoralising for those who have worked hard and feel they deserve such opportunities. This could potentially contribute to a sense of unfairness, lack of social mobility, and diminished faith in meritocratic systems.
Appointing unqualified individuals to positions of authority and responsibility can have several negative effects:
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Unqualified individuals definitely lack the necessary skills, knowledge, and experience to effectively carry out the duties of the role. This leads to poor decision-making, inefficient operations, and failure to achieve organizational goals.
Without the right capabilities, unqualified leaders may struggle to manage teams, allocate resources, and drive progress. This results in lower overall productivity and output.
Other employees / officers feel demoralised and demotivated if they perceive that merit and qualifications are not valued. This undermines their morale, engagement, and commitment to the nation.
Appointing unqualified individuals to prominent positions can damages the reputation and credibility of government, both internally and externally. This can make it harder to attract top talent, secure partnerships, and maintain trust.
Unqualified leaders may make decisions that expose the government to greater legal, financial, or operational risks that a more competent individual would have avoided.
Without the right leadership, the government may fail to capitalise on strategic opportunities, innovate, or adapt to changing market conditions.
When the public perceives that unqualified or undeserving individuals have been appointed to important roles, it can lead to a loss of trust in the institution, government, or system as a whole. This can undermine the legitimacy and credibility of the government.
Seeing unqualified people being appointed over more deserving candidates is demoralising and discouraging for talented, hardworking individuals. This can drive them to seek opportunities elsewhere, depriving India of its best potential.
Appointing unqualified individuals, often from privileged backgrounds, over more qualified but disadvantaged candidates can reinforce existing social and economic inequalities. This can exacerbate feelings of marginalization and lack of social mobility among underprivileged groups.
When merit, competence, and hard work are not the primary factors for advancement, it undermines the principles of meritocracy that are essential for a fair and just society. This can lead to a breakdown of social cohesion and faith in institutions.
Unqualified individuals in positions of power may be more susceptible to abusing their authority, engaging in nepotism, or succumbing to corrupt practices, further eroding public trust and the rule of law.
Appointing unqualified leaders hinders nation's long-term progress and development, as critical decisions and policies may be made without the necessary expertise and foresight.
Addressing the appointment of unqualified individuals is crucial not just for organisational performance, but also for maintaining social stability, upholding meritocratic values, and fostering inclusive and equitable development.
As I write this, reports coming from Rajasthan about mass cheating in Exams for Class 10 and 12, teachers writing answers on boards to help students, since poor fellows couldn't leak the papers. As if NEET, UGC-NET and other scams weren't enough!
Today, majority of engineering and medical stream toppers are leaving India frustrated with this 'entitlement' culture - they are heading biggest of global corporates (wherever there is meritocracy, no discrimination on the basis of ethnicity, language, accent, looks and so on). Wish they had such facilitative ecosystem back home.
We need to move away from corruption and let some merit take its rightful place. 1.4 billion plus people can't migrate abroad in search of better pastures, nor would want to.
P.S.: Views are personal and general.
Guest lecturer (Law) & author.
7moI endorse your views; and if you don't mind, may add, some lady asst collector recently embroiled in similar issues, betrayed herself, when she answered in her defence, " That the constitution provides for, right to silence" , and "Burden of proof is on the prosecution". So this is what she has learnt, in the IAS training? I can point out, number of laws in India, where the provisions of the constitution nor that of the evidence Act apply. A lot of such people, come as IAS, IPS, IRS, IFS, not to say that there are any less amongst advocates. Another, nauseating issue that needs remedy is, people are running after degrees, diplomas and certificates, and not after candidates who can deliver the goods. As to how such candidates procured their certification is immaterial, cheating, bribery, nepotism etc; but the fact that they have is material. The same with number of magistrates and judges, a quadrillion dollar question 🤔😡
Lawyer, Doctor of Jurisprudence
7moOne big problem is when meritocracy and corruption joined together, it becomes a state.
Attorney/Owner at The Wilkes Group
7moBV, I fully agree with you.
Attorney/Owner at The Wilkes Group
7moas the principal ethics counsel for the federal govt & small businesses participating in govt contracting…. The scope of conflicts of interests is broad, from interlocking directorates through appearance issues….we seldom catch actors with their “hand in the cookie jar” providing the direct evidence, but the collective trail of circumstantial evidence reflects a predictable result/outcome when levied/measured against the standards of human behavior can secure legal recognition of the truth. But this political period has gone a long way to undermine the equity & equality of human behavior that has been“baked” Into law through its recognition and validation as part of the social construct of the American legal system baseline. Truth is the by product of the human condition however that fact is being eroded under the guise of a fiegned cuktural war” which is slowly but surely revealing the twisting of the truth regarding the inability to compete fairly on level ground.
Intrapreneur & Innovator | Building Private Generative AI Products on Azure & Google Cloud | SRE | Google Certified Professional Cloud Architect | Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA)
7moHistorically as a society we rarely had ages of meritocracy and corruption had played a key role everywhere and is engraved in the society. I read that Genghis Khan was once captured by Chinese but his wife managed to bribe him out by paying the soldiers and that same person became the greatest threat to China and he built a massive empire. In India Connections had played a key role in job market. Meritocracy is very important but in India it's still far away. Possibly we will be able to solve it in Government system as we can enforce rules (indeed tough) but in private sector its not possible.