(From Today's Indian Express)
Manjunaths spirit travels all the way to Assams forest and farmers
Geeta GuptaPosted online: Saturday, March 29, 2008 at 0033 hrs
31-year-old Akhil Gogoi gets Manjunath Shanmugam Integrity Award for exposing
corruption in govt projects
New Delhi, March 28 : Golaghat district in Assam may be far away from a
petrol pump in Uttar Pradesh but the distance between the two disappeared this
evening on a stage at IIT Delhi. Akhil Gogoi acknowledged an unusual debt to
Manjunath Shanmugam, the IIM graduate and Indian Oil manager who was killed in
November 2005 by the petrol mafia for cracking down on adulteration.
Recipient of the second Manjunath Shanmugam Integrity Award today,
31-year-old Gogoi, a farmers activist in Assam, said he didnt know who
Shanmugam was and how he died until he was told by a friend to apply for the
award. Its only then that I came to know, he said, that he was a kindred
spirit. So I came to Delhi not so much to receive the award but to pay my
respects to his spirit.
Gogoi, as general secretary of the Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti of Assam
(KMSSA), has been working for the cause of farmers in Assam since 2002,
particularly the forest-dwellers in Golaghat bordering Nagaland. According to
the citation of the Manjunath Shanmugam Trust which instituted the award to
honour and encourage efforts by individuals and institutions working to uphold
values of truth and honesty in public life Gogoi remained steadfast in his
fight against corruption and malpractices inherent in various development
works of the government.
His work highlighted irregularities in the Panchayat system, Rural
Development schemes and the Public Distribution System (PDS).
It started when over 5 lakh people were evicted from the forests by the
department without any provision for rehabilitation. I was a university student
then and with two more friends we mobilized the people and took out a rally. It
had an effect. That is when my fight started. We keep mobilizing people and
thats the key to our efforts, he said.
Gogoi, the general secretary of the Cotton College students union in
1995-96, left college and took up social service when he was doing his MA in
English Literature in 2002. The same year, he married Gitashree Tamuly, who is
a college teacher. They have a two-year-old son and the familys expenses are
paid for by the salary his wife gets.
I was attacked by the local Congress Committee members for my anti-state
activities, and a case was also filed against me. But I was rescued by the High
Court, says Gogoi. During this period, Gogoi had to go underground, and he was
introduced to his son only when he was already six months old.
Gogoi and his KMSSA used the RTI Act to uncover corruption in various schemes
like the Indira Awas Yojana and the Sampoorna Gramin Rozgar Yojana. This was
reported to the Chief Minister and following media coverage, local officials
were arrested for alleged corruption.
The two other finalists for the award were the Urmul Jyoti Sansthan (UJS) and
its founder Chetan Ram from Bikaner in Rajasthan for their work in health care,
rural development and public advocacy. The UJS also used the RTI Act to expose
corruption in various public projects. Working under the banner of the Jagruk
Nagrik Manch, UJS activists actually coerced many public officials into
returning bribes they took from citizens.
Though our efforts were initially dismissed, government servants gradually
started returning the money they took. We have all the receipts with us,
wherein the official writes the amount of bribe he took and then returns it
back, said Ram. I have been dragged to court in many false cases and have
even faced physical assault. But now, resistance has declined.
The fight against corruption led the third nominee, M N Vijayakumar, an IAS
officer from Karnataka, to be transferred seven times in nine months. Not
allowed to attend the event, he was represented by Jayashree, his wife and an
activist herself. His crime? Blowing the whistle on the misuse of Government
land and corrupt practices in various PSUs. Said Jayashree: Vijayakumar keeps
getting notices every time he uncovers corruption in the state. But its the
zeal for bringing about change that keeps us going despite all the threats.
The nominations were adjudged on the basis of the gravity of the situation in
the area of work; corrective measures taken to fight the situation; and the
extent of difficulty and challenges faced. What was common to all the
nominations was their commitment towards ensuring transparency in the
governments development works.
The fight against corruption is an uphill task. Youll be beaten up and
dragged to courts for all your honesty, said Kiran Bedi, the chief guest at
the award function. Justice and integrity mean nothing unless we talk of
police reforms. That department is the most corrupt, she said.
http://www.indianexpress.com/story/289867.html
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