Monday, August 15, 2011

Immorality in Indian politics: Swaminathan Aiyar

Hummingbird has been watching the growing anger against corruption over the years.  Oflate the anger of the common man is growing by leaps and bounds and the response of the ruling elites does not appear to reflect a proper understanding of the situation at the ground level.  While generally anger against corruption and corrupt people is considered to be high among the "middle classes" and honesty is considered a middle class virtue, the kind of people who came for the Ramlila agitation is an eye opener.  While traditional wisdom says that poor are more bothered about their livelihood issues, over the last few years, Hummingbird has watched with interest, the growing awareness (improved literacy levels and better media access) amongst the poor and lower segments of the Society on national issues besides the bread and butter issues.

In this interview, Swaminathan Aiyar talks about corruption and anger of middle class.  If corruption derails the growth agenda of the nation, it would push back the country by a few decades.  One only hopes, the country gets on with its focus on economics coupled with better governance.