What is the main cause of corruption in India? Here is a recent story that explains one reason

The main cause of corruption in India? Ambitious people who want to desperately get their way; at any cost.

Let me explain with the following news article I came across a few days ago - “Retired Bangalore University professor kills himself”

According to the article, A 64-year-old retired professor from Bangalore University and former registrar of Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS) committed suicide by hanging himself from the ceiling of his residence at KAS Officers’ Colony, Mico Layout on Sunday morning.

NS Ashok Kumar, who was serving as registrar of Garden City University for the last two years, was earlier a professor at departments of communication and later electronic media at BU. Police said the incident came to light on Sunday morning after his family members entered his bedroom around 6.30am. The jurisdictional police were informed around 8.30am. Mico Layout police found a note, in which Kumar stated that he alone is responsible for his death and no one is behind it.

Prof. NS Ashok Kumar

This was followed up by another article (link) that described a few more details:

Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president D K Shivakumar on Monday demanded a judicial inquiry into the death of retired Bangalore University professor NS Ashok Kumar. Shivakumar claimed that Kumar (64), who was found hanging at his Mico Layout home on November 8, had paid Rs 2.5 crore to “influential people” in exchange to get appointed as vice-chancellor to four new universities.

On November 7, a day before Kumar was found dead, the state government appointed vice-chancellors to four new universities - Gomathi Devi L (Maharani Cluster University), Harish Ramaswamy (Raichur University), Shrinivas S Balli (Nrupathunga University) and Puttaraju (Mandya University). “Kumar was told that there was some problem with his file and his money wasn’t returned,” Shivakumar said.

He borrowed loans and was made to wait 5-6 months. But, he did not get the position. Therefore, he took the extreme step. This is what’s being discussed widely,” Shivakumar told reporters.

“The appointment of vice-chancellors is mired in corruption. In every university, the staff and students talk that the V-C’s post is for sale. People go to Vidhana Soudha and ministers’ homes for this,” he said.

After retiring from Bangalore University where he headed the department of electronic media, Kumar was the registrar of Garden City University at the time of his death. He was also registrar (evaluation) of the state-run Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences and his tenure there was marred by alleged tampering of marks cards.

Here are a few thoughts

While the media may or may not follow up on the true cause of Prof. Kumar’s suicide, these articles highlight the sad state of affairs in modern India:

• Appointment to top public offices and positions are mired in cronyism and corruption
• If Sivakumar’s allegations are to be believed, Prof. Kumar borrowed Rs 2.5 crore (about $330,000) to bribe decision makers for a position he didn’t get.
• Prof. Kumar had seemingly reached the pinnacle of his career as the head of department of electronic media at BU. It seems like his ambition at a late-career got better of his judgment, and he took on substantial debt to bribe his way for a post he couldn’t attain

This is just one story of an extreme step by a person whose attempt at bribing his way to a top public appointment failed. There are millions of such cases of people trying to get ahead of their fellow countrymen, even if it means bribing their way, and millions who are willing to facilitate them in the effort!