The stories of corruption in Assam remind me of a discussion that took place five years back in the capital city of Tamil du between me and a group of renowned faculties of a prestigious technology institute. It was a tea-table sort of discussion, in which the topics varied from politics to development, religion to education, culture to sports. The other members expressed their inquisitiveness to know the reasons behind the backwardness of Assam and Northeastern region in comparison to the other regions. I tried to explain and answer to their queries, highlighting the problems of negligence by the Centre, linguistic and religious atrocities, insurgency, lack of educatiol facilities, poor industrial growth, lack of medical facilities, etc. Listening to my clarifications, one of my friends in the group remarked, “You have missed a vital point, that is corruption.”