First, let me clarify......I am not here to defend those who cant be defended. Whether its Raja, or Kalmadi, if they are guilty, they must be shown the severest punishment. I am only trying to separate the wheat from the chaff....get to the real truth. This blog is about getting out the real motivations....the real facts....the real truth.
There is no doubt in my mind that there was a scam in the organizing of the CWG. Does ANYONE have a doubt? Does ANYONE have a doubt that there is corruption in almost EVERY single government project? I would imagine somewhere between 10-15% gets siphoned off from almost all government contracts. Precisely because everyone knows this truth, there is no media story in it!
So what does media do? First, it makes the plot look much bigger.....much more sinister. Rs 1700 crores spent on the CWG is hardly interesting. How about adding the Delhi T3 airport to the CWG account (Rs 10000 crores). The Delhi metro (Rs 10000 crores). Ha....Even those fly-overs, the road beautification projects, the tree planting (a few hundred crores)! But clearly I am not as creative as others in media and politics! They somehow add it all up to Rs 70000 crores! Ingenious!
Second.....give the impression that Kalmadi is responsible for 15% of this entire amount! The poor man may not even have handled the entire sum. Maybe the DDA (BJP ruled) may have spent half of it. Praful Patel, the T3....but media has learnt the art of marketing. "FOCUS" scream the marketing gurus. And that's what media does! Focus on Kalmadi. Make him look responsible for everything!
Third.....raise the pitch. Sensationalize. Put together politicians, failed sports personnel (pretty faces like Ashwini - has she EVER won an international sporting event?), even Suhel Seth will do for god's sakes! (Someone told me that Suhel Seth was really happy he featured in the Radia tapes.....it proved he was "connected"!). Dont forget to get Swapan Dasgupta in (I am told he takes special pills which create mucus in his throat to give him that hoarse throat-is-jammed tone!). Light them up and see them bandy about their ignorant, illiterate thoughts to lay viewers of the country.
Job done! From this point on, if someone takes a contrarian position .....maybe Kalmadi is guilty of 15% of 1700 crores only......strip the person so he wont appear again on TV! And all along....keep saying that "I am keeping the debate balanced!"
So what's the real truth. The real truth is that Kalmadi made 15% of 1700 crores. There is 15% commission paid on almost all government contract. No point in complaining about this. Has anyone ever thought how the election funds are generated? It is estimated that one round of central and state elections costs a total of Rs 75000 crores. Where does this come from? Has anyone given a thought to the salaries that the IAS officers make? Without their houses, their salaries wont even add up to Rs 1 lac a month. And they control the ever rising budgets of this fast growing country. The 15% supports everyone.
This is the real story.....and unfortunately its boring. It just wont generate TRPs!
Hi Prashant, it would have been quite interesting if you could have connected the dots as well, fact of the matter is, with so much of information pouring in, people fail to compartmentalise it, now one may ask why is this needed, but the point im trying to make is its more important to bring out the nexus through which such elements operate, the vicious cycle of which each and every self respecting, hard working Indian is a part of knowingly or unknowingly! Its high time we bring in a mechanism that makes people able to connect consequences with their own actions, it could be as small as bribing the "thola" for being caught for not wearing one's seatbelt and how so much of corruption spreads only because we continue to condone it! Or picture this every doggone fool working for the press flashes his card whenever he is caught at the traffic junction, he scoots off with a small warning, what did it add to the system, an inherent fear for the power of the press, is this really needed? NO. Frankly, the recent media outbursts have made me lose faith in our country's "responsible" journalists and I have stayed away from the news channels since the last fortnight! Fact is no one in this country receives a pat on the back when one sticks up for his/her morals, I guess it stems from the fact that we are all now cynical enough to not take stands or make it obvious if we have one!
ReplyDeleteOh absolutely and so well put! I have often said that the corruption in this country exists to serve the well-off. You arent getting a train ticket.....just pay a bit and you get the ticket! The person who was in line for the ticket gets pushed behind. Its us who make the corruption stay so long....point to think about
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