Shamelessly self-serving
- Hueiyen Lanpao Editorial :: May 17, 2013 -
'Honesty', 'Sincerity' or 'Good' are definitely not the adjectives that come to mind normally when people think about politicians in general.
And, this seems to have been reaffirmed once again by the conduct of many of our 'self-serving' but elected 'honourable' Members of Parliament (MPs) who could not look beyond their immediate family members when it comes to appointment of their personal assistants (PAs).
Following an RTI application by The Indian Express, it has been known that out of the total 790 members (545 in Lok Sabha and 245 in Rajya Sabha) in Indian Parliament, as many as 146 of them (191 in Lok Sabha and 42 in Rajya Sabha), including the three MPs from Manipur are employing their family members or close relatives as their own PAs and entitling them to a monthly salary of Rs 30,000 from the Parliament.
This army of family PAs includes 60 sons, 36 wives, 27 daughters, seven brothers, seven daughters-in-law, four husbands and 10 cousins, among others.
And, there is also no difference in party line or political ideologies when it comes to appointment of PAs from among the family members or close relatives with 38 of them related to BJP, 36 to Congress, 15 to BSP, 12 to Samajwadi Party, 8 to DMK, 7 to Biju Janata Dal, 6 to JD (U) and the rest from other parties.
In short, 'self-serving' interest of the politicians is same throughout the length and breadth of the country.
As a matter of fact, India is not the only country, where elected representatives have been found employing close family members and their relatives as their PAs, and this only goes to reinforcement the fact that politicians are same everywhere – shameless and unscrupulous.
Well, of course, as some experts and senior MPs have pointed out, there is no rule which says that an MP cannot appoint a family member or a close relative as their own PAs.
"So, why make an issue out of it when the MPs have not done anything wrong?" one may question. But, the issue is not that simple; because it is not some private companies or enterprises where one can simply put his/her spouses or children on the hot seats.
And, yes, appointment of family members as PAs by the MPs may be legal, but doesn't it really smack of nepotism? Moreover, such conducts also certainly raises questions of ethics and propriety.
If any of the MPs want an efficient personal assistant or manager to run their offices, then why can't or shouldn't they advertise for the position to select the best candidates like any other normal selection procedure.
Even if any of their immediate family members or close relatives are well-qualified and suitable for the position, as Congress MP from Jammu Madanlal Sharma had tried his level best to justify over appointment of his own wife and London-returned law graduate son as his PAs, why should they be given preferential treatment at the cost of other deserving candidates?
After all, it is the public money that these MPs are going to use for paying salary to their PAs, and so, public should have a say in how best their money could be utilized for the common interest and development of all, and not for propping up the family members of some shamelessly self-serving MPs, even if they may be 'honourable' elected representatives.
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