Steal, but don’t loot – minister

Published Aug 13, 2012

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A minister in India’s most populous and politically crucial state, Uttar Pradesh, has said bureaucrats can steal a little as long as they work hard – sparking national outcry in a country whose ruling class has long been mired in corruption scandals.

“If you work hard, and put your heart and soul into it… then you are allowed to steal some,” Shivpal Singh Yadav told a gathering of local officials on Friday. “But don’t be a bandit.”

The comments were caught by a local television camera and then played on newscasts across the country. Yadav, a Minister for Public Works, quickly sought to control the damage, calling a news conference to explain that the comments had been taken out of context. “In that event the media was not allowed in, I don’t know how they sneaked in. And if they had sneaked in, the whole discussion should have come out in the press, not just part of it,” he said. – Reuters

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