Only 10p out of Rs 10 reaches beneficiaries: Hegde

MYSORE: A government doctor in Hubli demanded Rs 50,000 from a poor family hailing from Bagalkot for their child's operation. Gram panchayat members in a Naxal-hit village had swindled reserved funds to construct over five dozen restrooms under a scheme. They had built only two toilets of the total 64 and surprisingly, the two were constructed at their respective houses.Even after six decades of independence, still, women in rural Karnataka walk miles together to fetch water.
Former Lokayukta N Santhosh Hegde on Thursday recounted the incidents, apart from the 2G, CWG, mining scams etc, to explain how corruption has taken deep roots in society. "Umpteen numbers of welfare schemes still doesn't reach the beneficiaries. Former PM Rajiv Gandhi had stated that only 15 paisa of Re 1 set aside for welfare measures was reaching the beneficiary, but according to my experience, it is only 10 paisa of Rs 10," Hegde stated.
"Corruption is not new to society. It is age-old menace, which is rising towards its zenith over the years. If we allow corruption to grow further, it will hamper country's progress," Hegde said, adding that corruption was defined in terms of hundreds of rupees when he was in his teens, while today it has touched millions of rupees and people do not know how many zeros are there. The latest Krishna-Godavari oil scam may cross 20 zeros as against 2Gs Rs 1.76 lakh crore and CWGs Rs 70,000 crore, the former justice stated.
Describing corruption as greed-over-need disease, Hegde advised people to find contentment in living with what they have, while delivering a lecture on 'Corruption in India,' organized by the planning forum attached to economics and co-operation department of UoM.
Later, taking on a volley of questions from students, teaching faculty and public at the jam-packed Senate Hall, Hegde felt the urgent need for judicial, police and electoral reforms. If the government passes the Jan Lokpal Bill, Tihar and Parappana Agrahara jails will be full and there will be queue for anticipatory bails.
On the occasion, Hegde released a book on corruption penned by SVYM founder R Balasubramaniam.