The probe body is still investigating, which means that this may be merely the tip of the iceberg. However, we are glad to see that there has at least been a joint secretary level investigation and that the preliminary findings have been forwarded to the parliamentary standing committee on the establishment ministry. What has come to light is a truly worrisome evidence of cronyism and partiality within the government services that suggest widespread corruption of the process of promotion and placement.

A probe committee has apparently been investigating such irregularities for a mind-boggling ten years, leading to a number of uncomfortable questions. The first of these is: are we to presume therefore that such irregularities have been going on for so long, and if so, then how is it that nothing has been done as yet?

The committee has asked the probe body to complete its investigation and submit a full report at the next meting, which raises a second question, namely why is it that action seems to have been taken only when this was brought to the attention of the committee? The ministry itself should have taken action long ago.

One final point is that while such internal investigations are all very well, we must ask why there is no internal mechanism in place to correct such a blatant problem automatically. How is it that the system is so broken that such incidents were permitted to pile up for so long without redress.

Our suggestion would be to computerise the entire process in the hopes that this would make tampering more difficult and easier to spot. It would also make the entire process more efficient and less subject to error.

Now that the problem has been brought to the attention of the committee and the PM herself, who is head of the establishment ministry, we trust that corrective action will follow shortly.