Maai-Baap Syndrome : A reality

“Mai-Baap syndrome” has persisted in every sphere of workspace all across the world. It caught fancy of the world when the incumbent President of the United States of America appointed his family members for important executive posts within the Presidential executive set up. India got an opportunity to delve deep into the intricacies of the concept of “nepotism” when Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut spoke about it and accused one of the top directors of committing it. It created a storm in the “koffee mug”. Debates and discussions erupted to know the extent of nepotism in Bollywood, and even other organisations like public and private sector enterprises.
Few years ago we heard an Indian diplomat embroiled in maid-abuse controversy, that is when it was discussed that her father, who was also an Indian Civil servant had helped her get into the services of her choice highlighting the fact that nepotism had a role to play in public sector jobs even though on munisicle scale. We have had instances of political leaders rampantly indulging in nepotism in every way possible. From highway contracts, to catering contracts, to mining contracts , to indulgence in real estates and infrastructures, we can see family members of politicians  involved in some or the other way in the said businesses at the behest of them .
To discuss further first we need to understand what Nepotism exactly means. As per Merriam Webster dictionary nepotism means favouritism (for job appointments ) , while as per Black’s law dictionary , Nepotism means appointing unqualified relatives or friends to the position in one’s organisation when an outsider might be better qualified. Generally connected with political office or a position of power. Kangana Ranaut accused director Karan Johar alleging him to be a “Flag Bearer of Nepotism”, and that he acted as a lauch pad for the children of yester year actors and actresses, who had easier access to limelight, as they did not have to struggle like the outsiders. While certain sections of film industry supported her on her comments, few disagreed with her. Surprisingly son of David Dhawan, who was also launched by Mr Johar , actor Varun Dhawan came to her support stating that, ‘it was indeed a right allegation because Mr Johar had indeed launched most of the star Kids in the industry, and there was nothing wrong in it. Recently actress Sonam Kapoor commented that Nepotism was not wrong because every job got in private sector be it entertainment industry or fashion industry depended on recommendation from someone influential, be it a friend, family or a senior. Disagreeing completely with this debate a complete outsider, Anushka Sharma stated that Yash Raj Films (Mr Johar’s production house) had also launched many new-complete outsiders in the industry just like her, Parineeti Chopra and Ranveer Singh, who went on to build successful careers.
This debate did not stop at that but ended up getting stretched to the dynastic politics happening nationally and internationally. Not just the Gandhi family but we have many families involved in running the politics of the country , where relatives of leaders hold important posts in political parties or in the government, prominent families being the Pawar and Thakre family of Maharashtra, Yadavs of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, Scindias and Pilots of Rajasthan.
Nepotism is reality of the day, not just in India but across the world. This debate took an interesting turn when the new President of the United States of America indulged in it. The Washington post has highlighted the danger of the incumbent President’s love for nepotism in public office as it leads to corruption and erosion of rule of law. As per the reason put forth by the media giant, “in a robust , well functioning democracy, there are many checks against abuse of power. There are institutions that establish procedures to regulate decision mankind and set limits . These institutions are run by people loyal to rule of law and not any particular leader, with the understanding that they are in that position for the people and the constitution not their bosses. The current president seems to be beyond this thought process . But he has a precedent to look upon, to the time when former president John F. Kennedy made his brother Robert F. Kennedy the U.S. Attorney General in 1961, a leading newspaper The Nation blasted off the appointment as “the greatest example of nepotism this land has ever seen,” while Newsweek called it a “travesty of justice.” A similar event followed when President Bill Clinton appointed his wife to chair the Task Force on National Health Care Reform, a lawsuit was filed in the Washington D.C. courts. The central legal question in that case wasn't actually about the anti-nepotism statute – it was about whether Hillary Clinton's task force had to publicly disclose records. But almost as a passing mention in the D.C. Circuit's 1993 opinion, the court said that the federal anti-nepotism statute does not appear to cover staff in the White House or in the Executive Office of the President. Judge Laurence Silberman wrote, "So, for example, a president would be barred from appointing his brother as attorney general, but perhaps not as a White House special assistant." This is exactly what the incumbent president has done while appointing his daughter Ivanka as the advisor and his son-in-law Jade Kushner as the senior advisor of the POTUS. The favouritism charges and uproar led Ivanka to take it up as an unpaid position after ethical concerns were raised about her access to material while not being held to the same restrictions as a federal employee. USA has  The Federal Anti-Nepotism Statute to deal with such issues. According to that law, “A public official may not appoint, employ, promote, advance, or advocate for appointment, employment, promotion, or advancement, in or to a civilian position in the agency in which he is serving or over which he exercises jurisdiction or control any individual who is a relative of the public official.” Violators are “not entitled to pay.” The clause very well used.
Not just India and USA but other countries of the world also have well known examples of favouritism persisting like that of Azerbaijan, where President Ilham Aliyev , who himself had inherited his position from his father, appointed his wife as the vice president or South Korea where President Park Geun-hye was removed from office in March in a corruption scandal involving a close family friend and adviser.
In such scenarios we do have examples of a country which absolutely despises nepotism, Philippines , where he Civil Service Commission (CSC) categorically states that elective and appointive officials to observe civil service rules on appointments, particularly those that prohibit nepotism. CSC also holds that nepotism is a form of corruption or abuse of authority that violates Article IX(B), Section 2(2) of the 1987 Philippine Constitution that states, “Appointments in the civil service shall be made only according to merit and fitness to be determined, as far as practicable, and, except to positions which are policy-determining, primarily confidential, or highly technical, by competitive examination.” And also it is classified as a grave administrative offense punishable by dismissal from the service to say the least.
Nepotism practices undermine the credibility of public officials, public confidence in government," says Kathleen Clark, a law professor at Washington University in St. Louis. "It can undermine morale of public employees”, hence there is a growing need that India also introduces robust Anti Nepotism law so as to give right job to a right candidate based on the merit. The voices are growing especially in the southern India to introduce state legislation in kerala to curb favouritism there, but it is high time that national consensus grows to bring a national legislation for the same, but this will require high level of political will and commitment to uproot and eradicate the Maai Baap Syndrome plaguing our society or else this statute will also go the Lokpal way…

Author Name: Kalyani Buche