Santosh Hegde highlights importance of value of contentment

Justice Hegde witnessed corruption in public services & recalled various scams. He spoke of inculcating contentment to counter greed & suggested creating a separate forum for policy matters. His experience & recommendations aim to bring social values to the notice of people.

“I have worked in several institutions during my career, but once I became the Karnataka Lokayukta, I witnessed the suffering of people due to corruption and bribery at different levels of administration. Today, I speak on falling social values and its consequences because of that experience and I wish to bring such matters to the notice of the people, and in doing so I have visited 1672 educational institutions,” said Justice N. Santosh Hegde, former judge, Supreme Court of India, during an event at the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB). 

He was speaking at the PP Foundation Day Lecture Series, on the topic “Decline in Social Values in the Society and its Consequences” hosted by the Centre for Public Policy (CPP) at IIMB.  

Mr. Hegde cited examples of specific cases where he witnessed corruption in administration from various forms of public services while also recalling the various scams that have taken place in the last few decades.

He also spoke about the report on illegal mining that he authored which was released in 2011, saying his recommendations were not implemented by successive governments. “The only way out of this rut of ever-increasing greed is inculcating a value of contentment. Be content with what you legitimately have. I know a lot of dedication and determination is required for this. But once it is accomplished, any amount of temptation can be countered,” he said.

Responding to a question from the audience about making policies more people-centric, Mr. Hegde said, “Confine the Supreme Court for Constitutional matters only. For policy matters a different forum should be created.”