India’s scams and corruption are perennially ubiquitous - they keep recurring. Typically, a scam starts off with media frenzy and then gets lost in thin air! Even though media spotlight continues on the case for a while, the same mostly focuses on the economic aspect of it, largely ignoring the social impact.

Let me talk a little about the recent scam — Coalgate! Coal mining — the lifeline of thermal power that constitutes around 66 per cent of installed capacities in power generation in India — is inefficiently run. The sector is marred by massive pilferage and corruption with disregard to environment and conservation. However, there are many other serious ground concerns. To start with, the mandatory regulation of open cast and underground mining requirement is flouted openly, causing health hazards on account of environmental degradation per se. The corruption level is beyond one’s wildest imagination. Even the sand purchased to fill the old mines is being sold in the open markets for petty gains! There have been waves of protests against pollution, environment hazards, and land acquisition... but nothing much was done.