“We need to regain humanism and not remain just homo-sapiens. This requires that we learn the art of contentment, the primacy of need over greed”, said Justice Santosh Hegde, former Solicitor General of India, former Supreme Court Judge and former Lokayukta of Karnataka.
Justice Hegde was addressing the students of Hyderabad Business School and GITAM University on Hyderabad Campus, as part of the Tehelka initiative The Power of Inspiration, the inspiring lecture series hosted by GITAM University on September 5. He said the country has seen the escalation of corruption since 1948 with 74 publicly exposed scams spanning these years. Had the money looted in these scams been spent for people, every village in India would have got more than Rs 120 crores each. He recalled the experience of preparing a 26,000-page report on the mining scam that indicted three chief ministers of Karnataka and more than 7,000 civil servants”.
Speaking of the cold response it evoked from the political circles, he lamented the way poor people of this country were utterly neglected by the powers that be. He advised the students to think of making a difference to them. He was fully contented with a small flat, the only property that he acquired with the savings from his salary.
Responding to queries from his student audience, Justice Hegde also dwelt on his membership in Team Anna. He said Anna Hazare was able to raise awareness about corruption in this country through his movement. However, he felt that Anna’s call for launching a political party was not a right move. Justice Hegde hastened to add that he was not averse to politics, but the current political climate was not conducive for persons like Anna, with insufficient wherewithal, to emerge a winner.
Earlier, P.V. Satheesh, Deccan Development Society general secretary, shared his experience of working with Dalit women in Medak district on the issues of food security, organic farming, preservation of traditional seed varieties and developing alternative people’s media through a community radio. A communication professional, who as a professor, taught at the University of Hyderabad and as chief sports producer covered major events like the Asian Games and Reliance World Cup, Satheesh gave up his lucrative career in search of meaning for his life and found it in the work with disadvantaged women in Medak district. He illustrated with telling examples as to how traditional knowledge systems inherited by the rural communities were holistic and intuitively eco-friendly. He opined that agricultural research must be conducted with farmers as the prime participants. He also introduced 11-year old Mayuri, who had received international acclaim for her two documentaries on aspect of the agrarian life in her community at Pastapur in Medak district.
A publication of Tehelka “The Power of Inspiration” was released on the occasion. Prof. S.S. Prasada Rao, Dean & Director of Hyderabad Business School, Prof. Baswaraja, Vice Principal, School of Technology, GITAM University, Hyderabad, teaching faculty and students participated in the program. (NSS)