Often some things are so well knitted in a culture that they become a way of life, one such thing is nepotism in India. Nepotism is just another term for favouritism granted to family members or relatives.
India’s political parties, as well as corporate boards, have always favoured heredity over competency. Basically ‘who’s your daddy’ matters more than ‘what’s your ability’. If a family member holds an authoritative designation then it’s an obvious unquestionable fact that the power will be used to strengthen the family, friends, and relatives. Talk about the extreme north - Kashmir where Abdullah family has succeeded for decades or the centre of the country Delhi – Gandhi family or the extreme south - Tamil Nadu’s Karunanidhi family; Nepotism is everywhere. Rationally analysing one can see that monarchy still exists virtually in this Sovereign Socialist Secular Democratic Republic.
A research conducted by Patrick French for his book India: A Portrait, revealed, “Three out of ten MPs (28.6%) entered politics through family connections and an alarming 69.5% of women MPs came into politics through family connections.”
Corruption and nepotism go hand in hand as the tendency of an official in any department of government to recruit their kin is very high. This results in a whole chain of reactions under which many deserving candidates remain deprived of what they deserve and sometimes unskilled individuals are given clutch of decision-making powers.
Nepotism is not just confined to the boundaries of politics, it exists even in the fields of entertainment, education, and business. Bollywood and corporate world possess 100s of examples where family members/children get opportunities which are unreachable for some really talented individuals hailing from normal families with no strong background. There have been some really good examples in both the fields where the individuals were so talented that they have taken their family heritage to an entirely new level. But the ones who have been taking advantage of their family background should realise that it’s nothing to be proud of.
Someday we will be a healthy democracy with no scope for influence or corrupt mindset and sincere honest selections in all fields will build a flourished nation!
Though India needs to strengthen its take against the whole nepotism culture but this is not going to happen in near future for sure. Thus, Indian citizens need to mature as voters and understand the essence of democracy.
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