Sachin, Ratan Tata, DMRC symbols of integrity for youth, says Kalam

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Former President A P J Abdul Kalam today shared that the country's youth ranked Ratan Tata, Sachin Tendulkar and the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation as symbols of integrity.

Mr Kalam was addressing a gathering on the launch of former Comptroller and Auditor General C G Somiah's appropriately titled work 'The Honest Always Stand Alone.' ''I recently asked some young students to name people in the field of industry, sports and public sector who symbolise integrity. They named Ratan Tata, Sachin Tendulkar and even the Delhi Metro!,'' he said.

The former president rued how corruption, more than a vice, had become a way of life and people were losing sensitivity.

''Our conscience has become corrupt and we are losing sensitivity. This is what we are passing on to the next generation,'' he said.

Urging for greater transparency in the country's governance through computers and other technology, he said, ''Funding for elections and real estate should be debated upon.'' ''The results of the schemes should reach the beneficiaries,'' he added.

He also opined that the honest do not always stand alone.

''It is felt that the honest always stand alone.

But they are not always alone because they inspire many more role models,'' he said.

Mr Somiah was the Comptroller and Auditor General from 1990-96 and was the first Indian to be elected as member of the United Nations Board of Audit by the UN General Assembly in 1993

The book recounts his days as a bureaucrat and also narrates his experiences in fighting terrorism in Punjab, his stint as the country's home secretary and Central vigilance Commissioner.