Our Honest Madam President?

Government employees are entitled to various fringe benefits. And if you happen to be the President of India the extravagance could be imagined.

But should that be at the cost of public money?

As per news reports, President Pratibha Patil is building a lavish 4,500 sq ft bungalow near Pune.

It should cost Rs 80 m.

But for that two defence bungalows meant for soldiers and officers have been brought down. Approximately 261,000 sq ft of land has also been taken over to build this paradise.

Now, as per law the president is entitled to 2,000 sq ft bungalow in any part of the country. So, there is a clear violation of space.

The irony is that once the entire episode came into picture the government is coming out with lame excuses to defend its move.

The Rashtrapati Bhavan says that the defence bungalows are being pulled down for renovation and the space guidelines for presidential residence are indicative in nature.

Now, no matter what the truth/guideline is. The said act displays that Right to Information (RTI) act should be made stringent.

Our Honourable Madam President was steeped in corruption charges before she assumed office. Now when she is leaving office the same charges of using her office to gain unfair advantage has again risen. Gone are the days when prime ministers like Lal Bahadur Shastri and Gulzarilal Nanda died with hardly any money in their bank balance.

Nowadays, our leaders would like to eat their cake and also keep it not only for themselves but for another 10 generations.

Just compare our leaders to one of the former Presidents, Harry Truman, of the USA which I had posted a few days back and which I am again adding below.

Of course, its another matter that the present day American presidents may beat ours in the money they try to squeeze out from their own country to support their extravagance.

Harry Truman was a different kind of President.

He probably made as many, or more important decisions regarding our nation's history as any of the other 42 Presidents preceding him. However, a measure of his greatness may rest on what he did after he left the White House.

The only asset he had when he died was the house he lived in, which was in Independence Missouri . His wife had inherited the house from her mother and father and other than their years in the White House, they lived their entire lives there.

When he retired from office in 1952 his income was a U.S. Army pension reported to have been $13,507.72 a year. congress, noting that he was paying for his stamps and personally licking them, granted him an 'allowance' and, later, a retroactive pension of $25,000 per year.After President Eisenhower was inaugurated, Harry and Bess drove home to Missouri by themselves. There was no Secret Service following them.When offered corporate positions at large salaries, he declined, stating, =You don't want me. You want the office of the President, and that doesn't belong to me. It belongs to the American people and it's not for sale."

Even later, on May 6, 1971, when Congress was preparing to award him the Medal of Honor on his 87th birthday, he refused to accept it, writing, "I don't consider that I have done anything which should be the reason for any award, congressional or otherwise."

As president he paid for all of his own travel expenses and food.

Modern politicians have found a new level of success in cashing in on the Presidency, resulting in untold wealth. Today, many in Congress also have found a way to become quite wealthy while enjoying the fruits of their offices.

Good old Harry Truman was correct when he observed, "My choices in life =here either to be a piano player in a whore house or a politician. And to tell the truth, there's hardly any difference!