The NEET examination scandal has now reached a stage where reports suggest the Indian Air Force may be used to transport examination papers.

Read that again. The Indian Air Force. Not to defend our skies. Not to monitor hostile aircraft.

Not to protect our borders. But to carry examination papers from one place to another.

I am sure the brave men and women of the Air Force will do an excellent job. They always do. That is not the issue.

The question is this: How corrupt have we become that we need our defence forces to do a simple civilian job?

Once upon a time, examination papers travelled in sealed envelopes. A few officials handled them. Students wrote their exams. Results were announced.

Simple.

Today, question papers seem to require security arrangements that would make a visiting head of state jealous. There are investigations. There are arrests. There are leak allegations. There are committees. There is the CBI.

And now there may be fighter pilots looking down from aircraft and wondering, "I trained for this?"

Imagine the conversation.

"Dad, what did you do in the Air Force today?"

"Son, I delivered Biology."

"Was the country under attack?"

"Yes. By corruption."

Of course, if this works, there is no reason to stop.

Next year, perhaps Army officers can supervise examination halls. A colonel stands at the front and shouts, "No talking in the ranks!" Students immediately sit up straighter.

The Navy could evaluate answer sheets. Submarines could carry mark sheets. Commandos could guard staff rooms.

At some point, a student may salute before entering the examination hall.

Meanwhile, what are the civilians doing? The very people entrusted with conducting examinations seem unable to conduct examinations without requiring military assistance.

That should concern us. Because corruption is not merely stealing money. Corruption is when society becomes so dishonest that ordinary systems stop working.

And then extraordinary institutions have to step in.

The saddest part is that twenty-two lakh students studied honestly. Millions of parents worried honestly. Teachers taught honestly. Yet a handful of dishonest people have managed to drag one of the country's most important examinations into a national embarrassment.

And every time that happens, the answer seems to be more security, more surveillance and more intervention.

Perhaps we are asking the wrong question. Instead of asking whether the Air Force can safely deliver the papers, perhaps we should be asking why this government can no longer be trusted to do so.

Because one day we may need our defence forces for what they were actually created to do.

And if that day comes, I hope nobody tells us that they were too busy running our examinations to defend our country. And that's why we speak Chinese now...