Corruption Corrupts Meal

Siva Karthikeyan, the collector of Krishna Nagar is well-known in the district. He is an honest and hardworking officer who would ensure that all the schemes and policies of the state government are properly executed in his district. He would resolve every issue diligently.

He is a bureaucrat who is always surrounded by his secretary and officials during his visits. People never get to openly share their grievances with him. They had to make do with whatever the officials directed them to speak to the collector.

One evening, Karthikeyan’s wife, Padmavati was returning back from a wedding at Hosur. When her car stops at an IndianOil petrol pump, she notices young children with baskets running towards the vehicles. A young girl with curly hair, tattered clothes, and a basket of peanuts knocks at her car and requests Padmavati to buy some peanuts.

Padmavati looks at the girl and asks her if she goes to school. The girl tells her that she used to go to the Government school but would often fall sick because of the food and the filth there. Her poor parents got dejected and removed her from school. She now sells peanuts and helps her parents in the field to earn a living. Padmavati is shocked and enquires further to know what led to her discontinuation from school. The girl claims that the mid-day meal at her school is so awful that they would rather stay hungry than eat it! A large portion of the school is also used as cattle shed.

Padmavati is taken aback. She assures the little girl that she will help her go back to school very soon. All along her way back, she keeps thinking of the little girl and the other poor children like her who are not benefitted by the government schemes. During dinner, a disturbed Padmavati narrates the little girl’s plight to her husband. The collector is shocked to know they matter and informs his officials to plan a visit to the school.

 The next day, when he visits the school for an inspection, he sees many children happily studying with clean surroundings and good meals being served to the children. He is happy to see the condition of the school and tells Padmavati that the girl’s story may not be true. Padmavati however isn’t convinced.

After a few days, Karthikeyan’s son tells him that he learned about King Vikramaditya in his class and was impressed with the way in which the king reached out to his subjects in disguise. On hearing this, Karthikeyan is reminded of the poor girl’s story and gets an idea of visiting the school in disguise to find out the truth. He goes to the school as a parent on the pretext of getting his son admitted. He is shocked to find more cows than students. The foul smell and the flies pester him a lot! He finds the classrooms empty and gets to know that the students were having their mid-day meal. As the authorities were busy with the admission process, he observes the condition of the meal being served to the students. He witnesses a few children being whipped when they complain about the food.

Karthikeyan gets to know the truth that the corrupt officials were feeding children stale food to save the funds given by the Government for their own comfort. He silently records the entire incident and shares it with the authorities. The corrupt officials and the headmaster are suspended. The story spreads and the people become vigilant about corruption. The collector opens a helpline for the public to directly reach out to him and help eradicate corruption.

The poor children happily get back to school and resume their studies. The collector announces that having schemes and policies for the betterment of the people isn’t enough. The benefits have to reach the common man and for that, it is important that every citizen is vigilant and strengthens the society by uprooting corruption.