India, celebrated for its relentless growth, its rising GDP, and its swelling demographic dividend of over 140 crore people, offers an impressive feat of numbers and optimism, served with some inconvenient truths. A country as diverse, managing with wealth inequality, yet working hard on lifting its poor with targeted welfare schemes and giving them a chance at dignity.

But if there is one adversary we consistently fail to conquer, it is corruption, so deeply rooted in governance that our attempts at change are stuck in a loop, returning only familiar disappointment. Take the Lokpal, our designated guardian against corruption. What makes headlines? Not convictions, but an open tender inviting bids for BMWs worth `70 lakh each for their seven-member body that was formed to bring more accountability and to uphold justice. An RTI by Ajoy Bose reveals, between inception and March 2023, the Lokpal received over 6,200 complaints, disposed of most, but didn’t secure a single conviction.

No surprise then, the one time the institution grabbed national attention was when parliamentarian Mahua Moitra was accused and “investigated.” Recently, front-page news recounted the tragic deaths of 24 infants in Madhya Pradesh, victims of contaminated cough syrup, their organs failing before their lives had a chance to unfold. The tragedy faded and, as always, we moved on from headlines and turned away from accountability for the corrupt system. India’s spirit of moving on from one tragedy to another deserves an acknowledgement of its own.

Our officials, meanwhile, offer........

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