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Of development and the malaise of corruption

"In the beginning of development was the contractor,'' says S.M. Vijayanand, Local Self-Government Secretary, who has been involved in the decentralisation of administration in the State over the past 10 years.

Addressing the newly elected panchayat presidents in Kannur district recently, he recalled that as Collector in a district, he could see the shadow of a contractor behind every demand for roads and other development works in a locality.

It was this `contractor raj' that the decentralisation drive in the State aimed to end. Asking the audience if it had brought down corruption, Mr. Vijayanand said corruption had come down, but not to the extent envisaged.

Corruption was still there in purchases, public works and issue of building permits, the senior bureaucrat said.

Mr. Vijayanand said he had attempted a study of corruption, and found good two definitions of the malaise.

Corruption, according to one of them, is a practice which converts a right into a favour.

The other defined corruption as utilisation of public funds for private use with the help of a public servant.

He urged the panchayat presidents to ensure that panchayat offices were corruption-free.

MOHAMED NAZEER

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