On Bribery and Poor Stewardship

“Social Change in India,” pp 407-411

(These are correspondence letters to an Indian national by the name of Prasanna Kumar Sen regarding legislation that was been enacted in regards to rent reformations in India. Current legislation gave quite a bit of power and leverage to the zemandari class [quasi-landlord/bill collectors] while giving no rights to the ryots [peasantry class]. Discussions were underway to change this.)

Highlights from this and recent reading that stand out to me:

  • Statistics must be backed by facts, or in other words, real-life stories of individuals that help to illustrate the statistics being quantified.
  • Bribery is a part of the real issue and that courts and judicial proceedings have no real power to change anything because witnesses can be bribed to produce false testimony. If a testimony is false, than the entire proceeding is flawed.
  • A class of young lawyers, who are above bribery as a matter of mantra or distinction, would change legal proceedings.
  • A prosperous class of ryots would benefit everyone above them, where as those that abuse the ryots with extra fees and taxes will sap the lifeblood until they are dead, until there is nothing left for them to take.
  • If the ruling class, zemandars or higher, fail to keep their books in order, then it should only be to their determent, and not anyone under them. If they are bad stewards of their own resources, than it should be to their own discomfort only, not to the poor.

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