'I see the country being completely
divided and ruined'

Do you fear a disintegration of India?

As long as some unifying forces work and work very hard, I see the country being completely divided and ruined.

A national spirit has to be injected. If moral values are going to deteriorate and we go on like this then there will be complete anarchy and destruction. In the international field it is said in the event of a third war there will be no victor and no vanquished, the whole world will be destroyed.

Similarly I feel if we don't wake up now then India as a nation will certainly be ruined.

Can corruption be weeded out from the country?

It cannot be fully cleaned and that too not immediately. But that does not mean that we should accept it and get reconciled to it. All of us should make an effort to see that the country is rid of corruption. I would see this is more the responsibility of the enlightened citizens, intellectuals, NGOs and educationists.

Now even bureaucrats have become a part of the corrupt system. Originally we would have thought they would keep some control. Ultimately it is not by changing this system alone, the individual will also have to change and this can only be done by moral values and making each individual conscious of his duties.

They say, even Indiraji used to say that corruption has become a global phenomenon. Similarly, there are others who say the best way to control corruption is to make it legal. But if these people are to blame then the people who give bribes are also to be blamed. There are exceptional circumstances when one has to give bribes but the people's conscience should tell them it is wrong.

Like I said whenever you have a good policy the result depends on its implementation. Bank nationalisation was done by Indiraji but what sort of officers were there in the banks? Those that were prepared to exploit it as much as possible. There were loan melas where loans were never returned. So unless we have honest officers to implement these policies this cannot come about.

In education also we have seen, every four or five years they form a committee. I was a member of the New Education Policy committee formed by the V P Singh government. We worked and worked and worked and submitted the report before his government was overthrown. I don't think anyone, not even the education minister must have read the report. It came before Parliament and only one member from Bombay, who happened to know me, asked a question, otherwise all reports are being shelved. They should be serious about what they do.

Political will is completely lacking in this country.

You may change the education policy but before that you must train the teachers. So without preparation you must not try to impose any new policy.