Question.
Dev Anand is working as an undersecretary in the Pension Department. One day, his friend Guru Dutta, an S.B.I. P.O. narrates the following incident:
1) For the last two years, a retired government employee Mr. Ashok Kumar is giving 30 % of his monthly pension to Mrs. Bindu Chopra every month through a cheque.
2) I found that Mrs. Chopra happens to be the wife of Mr. Prem Chopra, a Section Officer in the pension office under you.
3) I feel something fishy-may be this is part of a bribe scam, where a senior citizen is forced to pay money to clear his pension files from Prem Chopra and to submit bribes in his wife’s account.
Dev Anand visits Mr. Ashok Kumar’s home and finds that he is suffering from Alzheimer’s disease unable to give coherent answers. Frustrated Dev Anand directly questions Prem Chopra. But Prem Chopra says, “ Mr. Ashok Kumar was a friend of my father. He was no relatives and children and my wife Bindu has been taking care of him like a daughter for a long time. Therefore Mr. Ashok Kumar gives us money out of goodwill so we can send our son to an expensive I.I.T. coaching at Kota, Rajasthan. Besides, this a personal family matter and none of your damn business”.
Do you think that Deva Anand has made a blunder or is he merely performing an ethical duty? Answer logically. (UPPSC 2020)
Answer.
In the given situation, Deva Anand is working as an undersecretary in the Pension Department, so it is his ethical duty to investigate any possible corruption or bribery cases that come to his notice regarding pensions.
In this particular case, there is the possibility of bribery or corruption because of the following reasons-
A retired government employee Mr. Ashok Kumar is giving a significant portion of his pension ( 30 %) to Mrs. Bindu Chopra every month, who happens to be the wife of Mr. Prem Chopra, a Section Officer in the pension office.
There is a strong possibility that this may be a bribe scam, where a senior citizen is forced to pay money to clear his pension files.
The explanation given by Prem Chopra is not seemed correct as Mr. Prem Chopra is not a poor person, he may afford his own son to IIT coaching.
Therefore, Dev Anand is not making a blunder, but he is performing his ethical duty by investigating a possible case of corruption or bribery. Dev Anand should conduct a thorough investigation to verify the facts. This is especially important given the vulnerability of senior citizens like Mr. Ashok Kumar, who may be forced to pay bribes from hard-earned money.
You may like also:
ConversionConversion EmoticonEmoticon