'Pillars of democracy losing sanctity due to erosion of values'

Justice Hegde wants moral education be made part of curriculum

Former Lokayukta N Santosh Hegde, on Monday, said, the three pillars of Indian democracy — legislature, judiciary and executive — are losing sanctity and the country would face a tough situation if their sanctity is lost.

Addressing a gathering during the basic training programme on ‘Child Rights’, organised by the University of Mysore (UoM) department of Public Administration, here, Hegde said, in recent years human as well as moral values have been declining and a majority of the people are mad behind money and power. “If people lose hope on judiciary, it is an end of the democratic form of governance. It is high time we bring in change in the society. Unless people change their mindset, no law or rules can change the society,” he said.

“Most of the people adore wealth and power and hence humanity has been reduced to money and employment. Moral education is the need of the hour and moral studies should be included in school curriculum,” he said.

Recalling various scams such as the armoured vehicles scam in 1950, Bofors scam in 1980, and 2G spectrum scam, Hegde said, the country is witness to frauds amounting to thousands and lakhs of crores, but the budget amount for development of the state is very less. In 2016-17, Karnataka’s outlay of the budget is only Rs 1.61 lakh crore and Rs 1.80 lakh crore in 2017-18, he said.

Pointing at the Winter Session of Parliament in December 2016, Hegde said, the people’s representatives discussed no development matters, but wasted people’s money. As per media reports, Rs 10 crore was spent per day, during the session, he said.

Hegde said, despite stringent laws, only a few offenders are punished for committing crime. “Hardly 10-11% crime against children are proved, resulting in punishment for offenders. The students should develop values of humanity and morality for a better society,” he added.

Police Training School Principal Dharani Devi Malagatti, in her inaugural address, said, it is high time we sensitise children as well as the people about the laws to protect human and child rights. “We should create a conducive environment for children to share their problems without fear. It is everyone’s responsibility to protect and maintain the dignity of every child,” she said.

UoM in-charge Vice Chancellor Dayananda Mane and Law Department Dean C Basavaraju were present.