Mysore/Mysuru: Former Lokayukta Justice N. Santosh Hegde has said that there is a cure for Coronavirus and cancer, but not for greed. If people develop a sense of satisfaction and human values, the greed can be addressed to some extent, if not eradicated completely, he said.

Justice Hegde was in city to attend the talent award and anniversary celebration of Nadaprabhu Kempegowda Pratishtana at District Kannada Sahitya Bhavan in Vijayanagar recently.

“If one leads a life within the available resources, one can live a life of satisfaction. I have handled many roles, but it was only after joining Lokayukta did I witness several injustices. When delved deeper, I could understand that it was not the fault of the persons, but of the society, as the people prefer to go along with the demands of the society. When we were children, the society was ostracising the guilty. If one was jailed, the parents were restraining their children from going to their homes. It was indeed a social stigma and hence people were afraid to indulge in any wrongdoings,” he said.

Nowadays, the society is more wealth-and-power-oriented with least regard for the honest. Such is the attitude that the very mention of an honest person will be met with witty remarks, rued Justice Hegde.

Most of the values inculcated by elders have vanished, with avarice topping all. To circumspect with, the Jeep scam of 1950 saw some people swindling Rs. 52 lakh. While in 1960, a scam worth Rs. 64 crore in procuring foreign arms hit the country. The Commonwealth Games scam saw irregularities to the tune of Rs. 70,000 crore, followed by Rs. 1.7 lakh crore in 2G scam, Rs 1.8 lakh crore Coal scam. How can one expect the country’s development with crores of rupees going down in the scam? questioned Justice Hegde.

The size of budget of Karnataka State is lost in one scam and it shows the gravity of irregularities, he noted. The Opposition parties in the State have been calling the ruling party as ‘40 percent commission Government’. If the ruling party shoots back asking the extent of commission when they (Opposition party) were in power, the latter bills it as ‘10 percent’ without caring a hoot. If greed and corruption continues in society, then the society will be bereft of peace and harmony, regretted Justice Hegde.

Nowadays there is a trend that people offer a rousing welcome to those who are released from the jail. They are greeted with garlands made of apple and we should retrospect on the message such acts circulate in the society, he observed.

Instead of raising slogans in favour of such persons, we should dig deep into their background and the manner in which they acquired wealth. If one wants to set a precedent for others, they should first acquire human values. Even if you rake in a moolah, earning crores of rupees, it should be within the ambit of law, said Justice Hegde.

Kannada Professor Dr. M.G. Manjunath, Assistant Professor in Maharani’s Arts College Dr. M. Munikempegowda and Dr. T.L. Jagadish were felicitated on the occasion. The talent award was distributed to the students.

Commissioner of Kempegowda Development Authority R. Vinaydeep, former member of Karnataka Appellate Tribunal H.Jayadev, former Mayor H.N. Srikantaiah, Corporator Shanthakumari,  President of Nadaprabhu Kempegowda Pratistana Marimallaiah, advocate Ananthaswamy, Mahatma Gandhi Grameenabhivruddhi Trust President T.G. Adiseshan Gowda and Organising  Secretary C.Venkatesh were present on the occasion.