Moily’s “saints after retirement” comment for bureaucrats echoes a sense of Netagiri

A SEASONED Indian politician and Union law minister M Veerappa Moily’s sarcastic comment about failed bureaucrats becoming saints after retirement, has once again demonstrated the growing tension between politicians and a new breed of outspoken bureaucrats. There have been a number of recent instances in which ministers such as Jairam Ramesh, Dinesh Trivedi and Subodh Kant Sahay have used public platforms to pass adverse remarks on bureaucrats.
For Moily, however, it was not a direct assault as he did not name the bureaucrat he was attacking, though it could be easily inferred that he was referring to former Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) Pratyush Sinha. Sinha recently told a section of media that one-third of Indians are “utterly corrupt”. Moily said that a few top officials could have made a difference in office, but having failed to do so, they become “saints after retirement”. “When I was abroad recently, I came across the comments of a retired bureaucrat who said in a media interview that every third Indian is corrupt,” he said.
Though Moily’s comment has angered many a sitting and retired bureaucrat, all have chosen to remain silent and bury the issue at this stage. But India’s principal opposition party BJP picked up the issue and slammed Moily’s comment. Media reports have quoted BJP spokesperson Ravishankar Prasad saying that a government which “patronises corruption should not shoot the messenger”. 
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