Mahatma Gandhi’s has been inspiring us for quite long with his words of wisdom like “You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” But gone are the days of Mahatma Gandhi. Our leaders these days who deliver homage at every given opportunity to the father of the nation, don’t realize that they are not even close to make the desired impact Mahatma Gandhi once did. The political class revels in throwing dust in their eyes. That is why they refuse to associate courage of conviction with its members leave alone placing them on a higher ethical pedestal. The probity in public life has become all the more relevant in our times. Several measures have been taken to enforce it. It has been made incumbent upon the public servants to declare their movable and immovable assets. They are bound to file details of poll expenses incurred by them but these steps have failed to check the adverse influence of money and muscle. Recently we have been witness to the cash-and-query scam in which a few members of Parliament have been exposed to the charge of raising queries in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha just because they were paid by interested parties.

Members should never expect or accept any fee, remuneration or benefit for a vote given or not given by them on the floor of the House, for introducing a Bill, for moving a resolution or desisting from moving a resolution, putting a question or abstaining from asking a question or participating in the deliberations of the House or a Parliamentary Committee. It makes it mandatory for elected representatives of various public bodies, legislators and ministers as well as public servants to file annual property returns. Defaulters are punishable under the Prevention of Corruption Act but even this has not played an important role to curb corruption.

With this background in view it is to be welcomed that at least two voices have been heard in recent days for greater transparency and accountability on the part of politicians. Many political leaders have built considerable fortunes by instigating poor people to pick up guns while sending their own children to prestigious professional educational institutions and administrative services. If these politicians claim to be representatives of the people they should voluntarily declare their assets and sources of income as the people want to know sources of their palatial houses, luxurious cars, innumerable plots and bank balances. Someone has rightly said: “Honesty has a beautiful and refreshing simplicity about it. No ulterior motives. No hidden meanings. An absence of hypocrisy, duplicity, political games and verbal superficiality and as honesty and real integrity characterize our lives, there will be no need to manipulate others.” The best thing about public life is that everybody involved is within the gaze of masses who know all. And today with media power and so many sting operations happening around, one surely can make a distinction between a crook and a Gandhian.