Something is rotten…

The people of the state very clearly recall that the BJP-led coalition came to power in 2016 with the slogan of freeing Assam from three things – illegal migrants, environmental pollution and corruption. But then, though Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal took the bold stand of directing an inquiry into the various recruitment scandals that had taken place in the APSC and had even sent then APSC chairman Rakesh Paul and two other APSC members to jail, the case is yet to reach its logical end. While the matter is in the court, the Assam Police have so far failed to arrest a couple of accused, including a younger brother of Rakesh Paul. It is a fact that the APSC scandal had taken place during the previous Congress regime. It is a fact that most APSC chairpersons hardly get one or two years to serve in that office, but the previous Congress government, and particularly its Chief Minister gave Rakesh Paul the opportunity of remaining in the APSC for several years at a stretch. The previous Chief Minister had handpicked a relatively young Rakesh Paul and appointed him as a Member of the APSC in 2008. In 2013, Rakesh Paul was elevated to the chairman's post, so that he gets several years to indulge in largescale corrupt practice and ruin whatever little reputation that the APSC was left with after three or four preceding chairpersons had also put in a lot of effort to permit as much irregularity possible in the recruitments that it had carried out.

While Chief Minister Sonowal deserves praise for his bold stand against corruption, the people of the state however do not seem to be convinced. There are regular reports in the media about corrupt practices still going on in so many government departments and agencies. While the Social Welfare department had gone into the 'corruption mode' several years ago, things are yet to improve despite the unearthing of a Rs 2000-crore scandal in 2017 and the arrest of several senior officers including a retired IAS officer. School and college teachers across the state probably know it well that nothing moves in Kahilipara – where offices of most of the wings of the Education department are located – without offering something right from the peon to even some senior officers. There have been reports of major scandals in Gauhati University and Assam Agricultural University. A section of government officers – including police officers who are supposed to "catch thieves" – continue to allegedly procure huge property in Guwahati and other places which evidently appear contradictory to their "normal" income. Prices of vegetables continue to remain high, with the common belief and suspicion that suppliers and vendors have to pay a lot of "fee" to a chain of people from the source to the retail market. Common people wonder how political parties – including the newly-born ones – can afford to spend so luxuriously in holding rallies when the economy of the country/state has been so badly affected by Covid-19 and the lockdown. Something is rotten in the state of Denmark!