A brutal murder that highlights many issues

The brutal killing of a lady government officer has shocked the entire country. Such acts are highly condemnable. All public offices should install an effective security force. CCTVs should become a priority.

However, the incident sends a larger message for society intellectuals, bureaucrats, and politicians where people must resort to an 'instant justice' mode in the face of harassment and non-cooperation from the public officials.

Why does this need to happen? We do not know the true picture in this particular incident, but it is a fact that almost all public offices are a den of extreme corruption and harassment. Woebegone is a person trapped in a government office. One has a respite only if blessed to 'know' someone in the office.

It is an amazing face of our society that public officials are very rich by ill-gotten money, but the offices they work in, are pictures of abject apathy and poor infrastructure. The furniture and the decor of many offices leave much to be desired.

But not the houses of the respective officials. The laws related to each governmental department are so dense, opaque, irrational, and exhaustive that to survive, an ordinary citizen almost by default breaks the rules. Even if the citizen does not, the public office makes them feel so without fail.

Once the rules break, or have the potential to break, the citizen becomes a victim of the public official. This is the rule of any government department across the country. All governments preach the non-government bodies about quality control; which is ironically completely lacking in the government sector.

Look at the quality of our roads. It is a national shame. I spoke to a student training hard at our ground for his constable exams. His motivation was that he could make a lot of money over and above his salary.

My heart broke at his answer. What is the state of our country? Can the governments make the laws and rules easier for the citizens? Can our public officials be more citizen friendly? These acts should never repeat in our country.

Our deepest condolences to the families of the official and her brave driver, who lost their lives unnecessarily. This is simply a blot on our country; but with an underlying message for everyone to wake up.

-Dr Pingali Gopal, Excise Colony, Warangal