Corrupt practices loom large at Chhattisgarh State Power generation company

Corrupt practices loom large at Chhattisgarh State Power generation company
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Anu Chatterjee

Corruption is illegal but it seems legal because we all are involved in this process directly or indirectly. It exists in every sector and has become a part of our daily lives, affecting our economy from within and thus hampering our growth in several ways. Corruption is happening at all levels and sometimes, senior management in various projects are involved in this malpractice.


Corruption in civil department of Chhattisgarh State Power Generation Company (CSPGCL)
One of the recent examples of corruption can be seen in the civil department of CSPGCL, Korba. Korba is one of the important regions in Chhattisgarh, popularly known as 'power city' but corruption exists in the veins of power sector. Although, people might not talk about it openly but often, it can be seen that when people go to offices with their complaints and to register their problems, the process of initiating an action is not only slow but flawed. Often, officials complain that materials are not available. So, work either remains pending or people end up hiring private individuals to get their tasks done.
While having conversations with local residents, it was noticed that people often complained about leaking walls, broken tiles, damaged doors, damaged window panes, etc. Mending all of these works is undertaken by the civil department of CSPGCL. Most of them stated that civil department is inefficient and officers are not paying wages to laborers on time. Therefore, most of these laborers refrain from working and tasks remain pending. People often state that newly constructed quarters are not as good as old quarters because the quality of materials used for constructing these new quarters is poor. Some of these laborers often take money from residents to purchase materials for repairing, as departments do not have sufficient finances to manage resources for repair.
Residents often complain about broken tiles but their complaints are only addressed when registered multiple times. Often, laborers show and take measurements of tiles but they never act instantly and give excuses about the department not having enough resources. The civil department is in crisis for sure but not due to shortage of funds; it is in crisis due to corruption in those department.
Status of corruption in Chhattisgarh
The above mentioned example forces us to think if corruption can ever be completely eradicated from India. Most Indian states are adversely affected by scams, including Chhattisgarh. Chhattisgarh is famous for land mining scams wherein local politicians and state government is often involved. State government indulges in scams in the name of government. Thus, it indulges into violation of public rights.
For the past four years, corruption has increased in Chhattisgarh. In February 2017, an IAS officer was arrested by CBI under section 120 B of IPC for bribing a private personnel.
In an another incident, village sarpanch of Paali was caught for not investing the respective funds judiciously for building public toilets. Few villagers reported that most people in their village did not use public toilets as toilets were not yet built in their houses. Even the constructed toilets had several defects like leakage from walls, choking of sewage lines, etc. Villagers claimed that materials which were used to construct these toilets were of low quality.
Although, Anti Corruption Bureau is functioning quite well in Chhattisgarh but the practice of corruption is still on rise because people still believe that money is everything and it can get them anything. Till date, BJP is blamed for Public Distribution System scam in Chhattisgarh. Food scams are merciless and reckless because when any government or a group of people indulge in such scams, they prove that humanity does not exist as 194.6 million people remain hungry everyday and around 3000 children die due to poor die every year but still, politicians and money-minded people find ways to hoard money and engage in scams that adversely affect the lives of common people. No scam is trivial as they violate basic human rights of public.
Status of corruption in India
Corruption is growing like popular cinematic culture but it is a disease which can rupture a country's economy. According to a recent survey by Transparency International, published on March 2017, India has been identified as Asia's most corrupt country wherein people pay bribes to access public services. The report also reflected that India ranked 79th out of 176 countries in the Corruption Perception Index 2016.
PM Modi stated in an event organised by Niti Aayog that corruption cannot be curtailed without counter institutional arrangements and it has become an institutionalized tool to hoard black money which is affecting lives of commoners.


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