BHUBANESWAR: The 74-year-old with Gandhi topi has played a mind game of sorts. So, corruption is on everyone’s mind and finds a reflection in the New Year resolution as well. The Anna effect is clearly discernible __ and infectious.
Forget vows on quitting smoking, booze or making a career move, the youths are tuned into one conception __ fight graft.
And the winds of change are blowing for ‘making society corruption-free’ __ the resolution. The oft-repeated resolutions are put on the back-burner as the urban youths feel this is high time they took up cudgels against the cancerous corruption. A key element to a New Year’s resolution, that sets it apart from other resolutions, is that it is made in anticipation of a new beginning. Resolved Tanushree Patnaik, a student of Utkal University, ‘’I will protest corruption wherever I come across it.’’
Echoing same views, ITER graduate Ramesh Samantray said, ‘’Anna has stirred the conscience of the nation. Enough is enough. We have tolerated graft for so long, no more.’’
The New Year is a great time to look at the changes we would like to make, reasoned Ramakanta Sahoo, preparing for IAS. ‘’There is a groundswell of support for a graft-free society,’’ he said.
Social scientist and Dean of National Law University, Cuttack, Prof (Sociology) Rita Ray said the basic objective behind making a resolution is starting something anew. People want to start afresh for something unfulfilled or to achieve personal success.
It’s a sign of changing times that a large number of people have posted their resolutions on social networking sites like Facebook, and many lists include “Fight corruption.”
But why corruption? ‘’The Anna effect can’t be ignored. The generations after Independence have suffered enough. Unemployment is rising and there is no social security, all offshoots of corruption. The pent-up frustration got an outlet with Anna. And youths react strongly whatever they do,’’ Ray made out. Happy New Year!