Umashankar I.A.S, a victim of Crony Capitalism:

C. Umashankar IAS, an honest and efficient officer joined the Indian Administrative Service in 1990. He started his journey as an assistant collector in 1992 in Mayiladuthurai, Nagapattinam district in Tamil Nadu.

In his first posting only he questioned irregularities in cyclone relief work taking place in the area and result was, he promptly transferred to Seiyar, Thiruvannamalai district. I guess, this is indeed, part of the vicissitudes in the professional life of an honest official.

When Umashankar was an additional collector in Madurai between February 1995 and October 1995, he filed corruption cases against one AIADMK minister in the “cremation ground shed” case. Thanks to this he was transferred and appointed as an additional director of the South Asian Federation Games in October 1995.

The 1996 assembly election in Tamil Nadu resulted in regime change in Tamil Nadu and the DMK formed the next government. In June 1996, Umashankar was appointed as the Joint Vigilance Commissioner. He recommended the DMK government to take action against the former chief minister and former ministers in the AIADMK government who were connected to various corruption cases.

He was disappointed with the government's response and sought to be relieved from the position. Umashankar was appointed as district collector of Thiruvellur district in February 1999. During this period he implemented e-governance project in Thiruvellur and Thiruvellur is the first e-governance district in Tamilnadu. This project got an international attention. Umashankar in Tamil Nadu, Sonal Misra in Gujarat and Sanjay Saju in Andra Pradesh are pioneers in e-governance.

Umashankar groomed himself as an IT and e-governance specialist and he brought many important discussions in e-governance's platform. He strongly argued that developing countries like India should adopt Free Software in e-governance implementation and other government funded projects. In his speech in the National Conference on Free Software which was held in Bangalore on March 20&21, 2010 he reiterated the above points which inspired the audience and injected into them the national importance of using Free Software in government funded project and embracing open standards in such projects.

He continued as Thiruvarur collector in June 2001. In 2001 assembly elections the ADMK was voted back to power and Umashankar was transferred as Commissioner of Disciplinary Proceedings to Selam. It was a sort of punishment post.

Between 2001 and 2006, when he was working as commissioner of Disciplinary Proceedings he sharply observed what is happening in IT and e-governance and made necessary contribution as well as intervention to his capacity. One incident is worth quoting now. On April 27 2005, Umashankar wrote an e-mail to the CEO of NISG(National Institute of Smart Government), who is also an IAS officer, the subject line is 'Are you corrupt?'. The allegation that Umashankar levelled against CEO was that when the latter was the principal secretary of Communication and IT,he granted many projects to one particular corporation. Umashankar alleged that there could be an unlawful connection between CEO and the particular corporation and asked him to reply in 7 days. This IAS replied to that by saying that it's unacceptable to level such allegation against an IAS by another fellow IAS officer. Then this IAS was working in World Bank, Washington DC, USA in deputation. In the reply he also mentioned another important information about Umashankar that when Umashankar worked as deputy collector in Trichy between July 1994 and January 1995, he deposited the money that was allocated for ( DRDA - District Rural Development Agency) in the bank where his younger brother was working. This reply looks like 'Are you Mr. Perfect?'. Umashankar replied to Srivasta that he did not deposit the money in the bank where his younger brother is working. He stated that his brother was working in Trichy SBI and the money is deposited in Chennai SBI and he added that he deposited the money in Chennai SBI since the bank offered more interest i.e. between 11.5% and 13%. This deposit allegation against Umashankar was taken in 2004 by the ADMK government. We have already seen the relation between the ADMK and Umashankar. In the same reply Umashankar mentioned that Srivasta was trying to divert the allegation against Satyanarayan by replying something else and he questioned that when the benefits of e-governance reaches widows, pensioners, the poor and socially marginalized scheduled caste and scheduled tribes? If corruption is tolerated in e-governance, the benefits of e-governance reaching such people will be further delayed.


In May 2006, the DMK came back to power in Tamil Nadu. Umashankar's fame and experience in IT helped him in being appointed as the MD of ELCOT (Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu). He burned his mid night oil in executing important tasks. He worked as a software engineer by extending working hours and sometimes stayed in office. He proved that the government can save between 10% and 20% money when it goes for Free Software such as GNU/Linux and Open Office instead of Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Office. He not only recommended Free Software to the government employees but also organized the training for them in Free Software. Besides that he developed a model of an ATM (Automatic Teller Machine) which runs on Free Software coasts only 1.5 lakhs where the proprietary alternative costs between 6 and 7 lakhs. Umashankar introduced ORCA,a Free Software screen reader to the visually challenged people where the proprietary alternative is Rs.20,000/= and more. He organized a training class for such people by Krishnakant Mane, a visually challenged person working for TIFR( TATA Institute of Fundamental Research – Mumbai).

An honest officer and people in government indulged in rampant corruption, contradiction starts here! Honesty is the most hated word for the bourgeois politicians. For probing financial irregularities while in ELCOT and for condemning and recommending actions against the Arasu cable for it's unlawful actions, Umashankar has been taken revenge by the capitalist-political nexus.

ELCOT is a government of Tamil Nadu enterprise before Umashankar has been appointed as an MD, New Era Technologies (NET) of Thiagaraja S Chettiar and ELCOT jointly started a company called ELNET Technologies Ltd (ETL). ELCOT and NET owned 26% and 24% stack respectively the rest owned by the public. In 2004 ETL started a company called ETL Infrastructure. ETL Infrastructure is an 100% subsidiary company of ETL. Thiagaraja S Chettiar and his wife Unnamalai Thiagaraja were the chairman and the MD of ETL Infrastructure respectively.   ETL Infrastructure availed a huge sum of loan by showing the ETL property. ETL Infrastructure owned 1,800,000 square feet land at Pallikarunai worth Rs.700 Cr. Umashankar wondered how ETL lost the control over a company, which started with the fund of ETL and availing huge loan in ETL's name. On July 28 2008, he went to ETL Infrastructure office at Tharamani in searching the documents related to ETL and ETL Infrastructure and retuned without success. As per regulations the MD of ELCOT would be the Chairman of ETL. Umashankar as the Chairman of ETL circulated a special resolution through ETL company secretary in ETL's Annual General Body Meeting on 30th July 2008, to remove Unnamalai Thiagarajan from the MD post. Thanks to that Umashankar was removed from ELCOT by the Tamil Nadu government.

Umashankar was appointed as an MD of Arasu cable on October 30 2008. He condemned the Sumangali Cable Vision's(SCV – a part of Sun Network) unlawful actions against the Arasu cable. In December 2008, He wrote a detailed letter to the office of Tamilnadu Chief minister and the Inspector General of Tamilnadu about Sumangali cable unlawful action and the dying necessary to take action against Sumangali TV. It's alleged that to interrupt Arasu cable telecasting, the cables of Arasu cable were cut by unidentified persons all over the state as per Sumangali's direction. It completely paralyzed the Arasu cable's telecasting. On January 7, 2009, Umashankar wrote to Karunanidhi that the only way to save Arasu cable is to nationalize the Sumangali cable. In order to divert this issue the Tamilnadu government gave a memo to Umashankar which alleged that Umashankar misused his power by granting some benefits to a company called Tessolve through his wife who was then working for Tessolve. Umashankar refuted this allegation with proper explanation. He said that 2.5 acre land allotted to Tessolve in Madurai IT park has been allotted to the company after the cabinet approval on September 28 2008. In October 2008, when Tessolve approached the TIIC (Tamil Nadu Industrial Investment Corporation) for a loan, he rightly intimated the government about his wife's employment with the concerned company and the loan was rejected . Such politically motivated actions against Umashankar had an adverse impact on his promotions. He was transferred as Commissioner of Small Savings on January 23 2009.

On May 6, 2010, government started an inquiry against Umashankar without filling any case. On June 6, 2010, Umashankar filed an affidavit in Madras high court under the article 226 of constitution of India, challenging the enquiry. In the affidavit he mentioned that it's unconstitutional to enquire an IAS by an officer in the rank of DSP without registering a case. The court's judgement came in favour of Umashankar on June 16, 2010.

We've to wait and see the cases that will be filled against Umashankar and to see how the corrupted politician and the business class in forming an unholy alliance and the public and media's on this issue.

Same government rejected action against the district collector and the police commissioner and other officials connected with Tirunelveli massacre in which 17 people were killed( and 11 of them were Dalits) by stating shamelessly that if the government take action against the officials “people belonging to the backward classes” would object to it. but now govt is taking action against an IAS officer by alleging that he produced fake community certificate. Umashankar says  About the charge that he produced a fake caste certificate to join IAS, he said while his mother was Christian, his father was Hindu. "All my 11 siblings have all along remained Hindus. But my mother named me Ashok and got it recorded in my SSLC book that I was a Christian Pallar. My father was agitated over that and there used to be a lot of violence at home. Finally, when I was doing my final year in college, my father got me officially converted to Hinduism, changed my name to Umashankar and also got it notified in the government gazette."

He said the community certificate was verified by state government officials twice, based on a request from the Union Public Service Commission in 1990. On the government's instruction, the Tirunelveli collector had once again summoned him for yet another inquiry about the community certificate, he said, adding that the state government had no locus standi to initiate such an inquiry when his employer was the UPSC or the central government. "Let me make it clear now. For the past two years, I am a practising Christian. However, I have not changed my religion legally."

He remained suspended for 43 days and after that he joined as MD, TNSIC (Tamilnadu Small Industries Corporation). Actually his suspension seems to be a shock treatment o the IAS and IPS officials in the state acting not as per the will of powerful people in government.

The problem for govt was not that Umashankar produced fake community certificate, the real problem was that Umashankar may unearth many fraudulence in ELCOT and other areas which may unearth nexus between the bourgeoisie politicians and the business men.

Why Tamil Nadu suspended this IAS officer

C Umashankar, a 1990 batch Indian Administrative Service officer from Tamil Nadu, has been acclaimed for his honesty. This did not always endear the 46-year-old bureaucrat to the powers that be. Fifteen years ago, he made the news when he pointed out the cremation shed scandal in Madurai [ Images ].

In 2008 he was the managing director of the Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu when its subsidiary, ETL Infrastructure, worth Rs 700 crore (Rs 7 billion) went missing! For raising questions over this shocking episode, he was transferred before he could get to the bottom of that one.

A year later he was the MD of the government-owned Arasu Cable Corporation, which was in direct competition with the Sumangali CableVision, owned by the politically powerful Maran family, when he alleged that Arasu's cables were being cut by the latter.
He proposed the nationalisation of Sumangali, after which he was transferred out from his post.

But this time, more action was to follow. On July 21, 2010, he was suspended by the Tamil Nadu government -- for having submitted a false community certificate when he joined the IAS 20 years ago.The civil servant, who was reinstated by the Tamil Nadu government in the first week of September, spoke at length to Rediff.com's A Ganesh Nadar in Chennai while still under suspension.

While some people support you as an honest officer being victimised, others support you because a Dalit officer is being victimised. How do you see yourself?

Both. The elite and the intellectuals including the Makkal Sakthi Katchi are supporting me as an honest officer. The poor Dalit people are supporting me because I am a Dalit. They are agitating spontaneously on my behalf.

What is the controversy over your caste certificate?

They say I am a Christian and that I have taken a caste certificate as a Dalit Hindu.
My father Chellakani Sadayandi was a Dalit Hindu and my mother Suganthi Santhabai Victoria was a Christian.
We are 12 children of whom 11 children are shown as Hindus. My mother admitted me to the Sarah Tucker School for primary education where the school authorities made the entry as Christian, judging from my mother's faith.

When my father became aware of this in 1984, before I graduated, he took me to a Hindu mutt and got me converted. He got it notified this through the government gazette. This is the laid down procedure in law. Then he got my community certificate.
We had two native villages, Mettupatti and Sathirakondan. Originally both came under Sankarankoil taluka but subsequently new talukas were created and that also brought about a change.
The government attempts to distort it by saying that I have taken a false nativity certificate. My father and I had three options before us for obtaining the community certificate: Palayamkottai where I studied; Sankarankoil (native 1); or Mettupatti (native 2).

My nativity cannot change my caste status. The question they have raised is on my caste and religion. Dalit Sadayandi Chellakani's son cannot be a forward caste. There are 10 million Dalit people in Tamil Nadu who belong to my subcaste (Devandra Vellalar). They are up against the government due to my suspension.
The message is very clear -- my community considers me a jewel in their crown.
What happened in the Arasu Cable-Sumangali matter that got you in so much trouble?
They were cutting the optic fibre cables of the Arasu Cable Corporation. My officials lodged complaints and FIRs (First Information Reports) with the police but they did not take any action.
Then I sent a series of reports to the government seeking high level intervention to protect government property, yet no action was taken.
On January 5, 2009, I went to Coimbatore to safeguard the government company's cables. We went on a night patrol along with the press people and our cable operators to highlight the problem.

Till then the police had not filed a single FIR. All the complaints which gave rise to cognisable offences were entered and kept in the community service register of the respective police stations. After I went there the Coimbatore commissioner of police registered five FIRs but not under the Destruction of Public Property Act.
No follow-up action was taken. The culprits were not arrested, nor did the cable cutting stop. Rather, it worsened, a week after my visit.

Arasu Cable people caught two criminals cutting the optic fibre cables red-handed and handed them over to the police. They let them go. The commissioner was helpless.

On January 7, 2009, I sent a proposal to the state government to nationalise Sumangali Cable Vision, terming it a rowdy company.

What happened as a result of your action?

On January 22, 2009, I informed the cable operators during a meeting at Vellore at which the press was also present that Sumangali Cable Vision would be nationalised. The next day I was transferred out at 11 am.
On the subsequent day Arasu Cable Corporation had run into losses as its optic fibre backbone cables were completely destroyed.
A mutual friend attempted to negotiate between Dayanidhi Maran [ Images ] (whose family owns Sumangali Cable Vision; he is now India's [ Images ] textiles minister) and me, offering something to me in return (in return for stopping his pro-active work). I refused.
This happened at Coimbatore airport, just before my departure after the cable inspection.

Was the story similar at ELCOT?

I was heading the implementation team to promote nine information technology special economic zones in Tamil Nadu. I was also the chief architect (technical) for four extremely important e-governance packages.
I was spearheading a campaign to promote free software in government which has the potential to save Rs 5,000 crores (Rs 50 billion) every year to India.

ETL Infrastructure Limited was a Rs 700 crore IT SEZ located in Chennai which was a subsidiary of ELCOT's joint venture company. It went missing from the records mysteriously.
No one knows how it went out of ELCOT's control or its joint venture company ELNET.
When I was physically searching for the records in the premises of the joint venture company on July 28, 2008, I heard the news that I was transferred out from ELCOT.
It was the biggest shock of my life. It took me three full months and continuous visits to church to recover from it.

I have given details of the people who caused my transfer in my complaint to the National Commission for Scheduled Castes.

When were you suspended and why?

I was suspended on July 21, 2010. They have quoted that there was a problem in my community certificate. I gave my community certificate to the Union Public Service Commission and not to the state government. I am an officer of the Government of India and not the state government.

The suspension order has been done in the most malafide manner. It is like a surgeon trying to do major surgery without even the body of the patient.
Without my community certificate in hand, the Tamil Nadu government has considered my community certificate as 'fake'. The Tamil Nadu government is not my employer, but the Government of India.
I was recruited by the UPSC through a common all India service competitive examination. Only the UPSC and the Government of India have my records. So, without any records and without any authority the Tamil Nadu government has resorted to my suspension. Strange indeed!
In 2003 you received an award from the National Democratic Alliance government. What was that for?

I was the collector of Thiruvarur between 1999 and 2001. I implemented the first e-district of the country. Based on that experience I wrote a technical paper on e-governance security. I was awarded for best paper during the national conference on e-governance in 2003.

There are reports that Chief Minister M Karunanidhi [ Images ] used to like you.

Yes! He liked me in the past. In 1999, at a public meeting, he called me thambi which means younger brother.

You have also filed a case against the state government in the high court.

In May, the government started a detailed enquiry against me on the complaint that I had accumulated assets disproportionate to my known sources of income. I have always been prompt in declaring all my assets and new acquisitions, movable and immovable.
I have only two pieces of immovable assets -- a plot of land acquired through the IAS Association in the far outskirts of Chennai city during March 1998; the other a 1,000 square feet second hand flat at Santhome in Chennai during March 2003. There is no further acquisition.
For both these acquisitions I have taken prior permission from the government, indicating the sources such as housing loan, GPF (General Provident Fund), loan, bank loan etc.
My annual property returns for all these years indicate these details.
I came to know that the government was going to illegally raid my house to tarnish my image because I chose to send proposals to nationalise Sumangali Cable Vision. I moved the high court challenging the illegal Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption enquiry on June 6, 2010. The Madras high court stayed the vigilance probe.
The contention before the high court was that the state has powers to prosecute an IAS officer under the Prevention of Corruption Act by filing a proper FIR and not through the manual which enables secret enquiry, thus enabling the government to tarnish the reputation of honest officers who refuse to toe the line.
The argument advanced before the high court by my advocate was that the government should immediately arrest me and interrogate me if it feels that it has credible evidence on my alleged disproportionate assets. He also declared that no bail application would be filed in that event.
The state government was not ready to file an FIR against me nor it is ready to arrest me.
Subsequently, I filed another case before the Madras high court on July 16, 2010, challenging the DVAC (Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption) manual, calling it unconstitutional. I declared in my affidavit before the high court that the manual was being used to shield the corrupt and to book innocent officers to force them to toe the illegal line of the bosses. I was suspended on July 21, 2010.

Subsequently the stay was vacated. The high court has said the vigilance enquiry can go on, but the government cannot take action on it without the court's permission.

Source-----------http://news.rediff.com/interview/2010/sep/08/interview-why-tamil-nadu-suspended-this-ias-officer.htm

Lal Bahadur Shastri Biography

Born: October 2, 1904
Died: January 10, 1966
Achievements: Played a leading role in Indian freedom struggle; became Parliamentary Secretary of Pandit Govind Vallabh Pant, the then chief minister of Uttar Pradesh; became the Minister of Police and Transport in Pant's Cabinet; appointed as the Railways and Transport Minister in the Central Cabinet; also held the portfolios of Transport & Communications, Commerce and Industry, and Home Ministry in the Central cabinet; became Prime Minister of India in 1964; led India to victory over Pakistan in 1965 war.

Lal Bahadur Shastri was the second Prime Minister of independent India. Though diminutive in physical stature he was a man of great courage and will. He successfully led country during the 1965 war with Pakistan. To mobilize the support of country during the war he coined the slogan of "Jai Jawan Jai Kisan". Lal Bahadur Sastri also played a key role in India's freedom struggle. He led his life with great simplicity and honesty and was a great source of inspiration for all the countrymen.

Lal Bahadur Shastri was born on October 2, 1904 at Mughalsarai, Uttar Pradesh. His parents were Sharada Prasad and Ramdulari Devi. Lal Bahadur's surname was Srivastava but he dropped it as he did not want to indicate his caste. Lal Bahadur's father was a school teacher and later on he became a clerk in the Revenue Office at Allahabad. Though Sharada Prasad was poor, he lived a life of honesty and integrity. Lal Bahadur lost his father when he was only one. Ramdulari Devi raised Lal Bahadur and her two daughters at her father's house.

There is a very famous incident regarding Lal Bahadur Shastri's childhood which took place when he was six years old. One day, while returning from school, Lal Bahadur and his friends went to an orchard that was on the way to home. Lal Bahadur Shastri was standing below while his friends climbed the trees to pluck mangoes. Meanwhile, the gardener came and caught hold of Lalbahadur Shastri. He scolded Lal Bahadur Shastri and started beating him. Lal Bahadur Shastri pleaded to gardener to leave him as he was orphan. Taking pity on Lal Bahadur, the gardener said, "Because you are an orphan, it is all the more important that you must learn better behavior." These words left a deep imprint on Lal Bahadur Shastri and he swore to behave better in the future.

Lal Bahadur stayed at his grandfather's house till he was ten. By that time he had passed the sixth standard examination. He went to Varanasi for higher education. In 1921 when Mahatma Gandhi launched the non-cooperation movement against British Government, Lal Bahadur Shastri, was only seventeen years old. When Mahatma Gandhi gave a call to the youth to come out of Government schools and colleges, offices and courts and to sacrifice everything for the sake of freedom, Lal Bahadur came out of his school. Though his mother and relatives advised him not to do so, he was firm in his decision. Lal Bahadur was arrested during the Non-cooperation movement but as he was too young he was let off.

After his release Lal Bahadur joined Kashi Vidya Peeth and for four years he studied philosophy. In 1926, Lal Bahadur earned the degree of "Shastri" After leaving Kashi Vidya Peeth, Lal Bahadur Shastri joined "The Servants of the People Society", which Lala Lajpat Rai had started in 1921. The aim of the Society was to train youths that were prepared to dedicate their lives in the service of the country. In 1927, Lal Bahadur Shastri married Lalitha Devi. The marriage ceremony was very simple and Shastriji took only a charkha (spinning wheel) and few yards of Khadi in dowry.

In 1930, Gandhiji gave the call for Civil Disobedience Movement. Lal Bahadur Shastri joined the movement and encouraged people not to pay land revenue and taxes to the government. He was arrested and put in jail for two and a half years. In jail Shastriji became familiar with the works of western philosophers, revolutionaries and social reformers. Lal Bahadur Shastri had great self respect. Once when he was in prison, one of his daughters fell seriously ill. The officers agreed to release him out for a short time but on condition that he should agree in writing not to take part in the freedom 'movement during this period. Lal Bahadur did not wish to participate in the freedom movement during his temporary release from prison; but he said that he would not give it in writing. He thought that it was against his self-respect to give it in writing.

After Second World War started in 1939, Congress launched "Individual Satyagraha" in 1940 to demand freedom. Lal Bahadur Shastri was arrested during Individual Satyagraha and released after one year. On August 8, 1942, Gandhiji gave the call for Quit India Movement. Lal Bahadur actively participated in the movement. He went underground but was later arrested. Lal Bahadur Shastri was released in 1945 along with other major leaders. He earned the praise of Pandit Govind Vallabh Pant by his hard work during the 1946 provincial elections. Lal Bahadur's administrative ability and organization skills came to the fore during this time. When Govind Vallabh Pant became the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, he appointed Lal Bahadur Shastri as his Parliamentary Secretary. In 1947, Lal Bahadur Shastri became the Minister of Police and Transport in Pant's Cabinet.

Lal Bahadur Sastri was the General Secretary of the Congress Party when the first general elections were held after India became Republic. Congress Party returned to power with a huge majority. In 1952, Jawahar Lal Nehru appointed Lal Bahadur Shastri as the Railways and Transport Minister in the Central Cabinet. Lal Bahadur Shastri's contribution in providing more facilities to travelers in third class compartments cannot be forgotten. He reduced the vast disparity between the first class and third class in the Railways. Lal Bahadur Shastri resigned from Railways in 1956, owning moral responsibility for a railway accident. Jawaharlal Nehru tried to persuade Shastriji but Lal Bahadur Shastri refused to budge from his stand. By his action Lal Bahadur Shastri set new standards of morality in public life.

In the next general elections when Congress returned to power, Lal Bahadur Shastri became the Minister for Transport and Communications and later the Minister for Commerce and Industry. He became the Home Minister in 1961, after the death of Govind Vallabh Pant. In the 1962 India-China war Shastriji played a key role in maintaining internal security of the country.

After the death of Jawaharlal Nehru in 1964, Lal Bahadur Shastri was unanimously elected as the Prime Minister of India. It was a difficult time and the country was facing huge challenges. There was food shortage in the country and on the security front Pakistan was creating problems. In 1965, Pakistan tried to take advantage of India's vulnerability and attacked India. Mild-mannered Lal Bahadur Shastri rose to the occasion and led the country ably. To enthuse soldiers and farmers he coined the slogan of "Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan". Pakistan lost the war and Shastriji's leadership was praised all over the world.

In January 1966, to broker peace between India and Pakistan, Russia mediated a meeting between Lal Bahadur Shastri and Ayub Khan in Tashkent, Russia. India and Pakistan signed the joint declaration under Russian mediation. Under the treaty India agreed to return to Pakistan all the territories occupied by it during the war. The joint declaration was signed on January 10, 1966 and Lal Bahadur Shastri died of heart attack on the same night.

Rs 5 is this doctor’s fee

Nowadays when doctors in the country are becoming increasingly professional and business-minded, there are still people here like Dr Gauranga Goswami who redefines the profession in the light of the "ideal". He is engaged in serving all kinds of patients day and night for a nominal charge of rupees five. This has earned him the popular nickname of paanch takar daktar (rupees 5 doctor) in the small town of Kalna, 80kms from Kolkata. Even the rikshaw-puller who took me to his house-cum-clinic tells me "he is our God".
A big crowd outside the house and an equally populated waiting room welcomes me when I step into his chamber. The Doctor, in his late 50s, greets me with a smile and indicates how busy he is with the long queue of people waiting to get treated.
"I think instead of me you should talk to the patients who stand for hours in queues just to meet me," says the doctor. The answer is simple, when one knows that he will get quality treatment for an almost negligible price, he is bound to run down to him every time.
Dr Goswami is a graduate from the prestigious Calcutta Medical College. However, he quit his Master in Surgery course after 2 years and returned to his home town Kalna to serve the people here and carry out general practice. "The reason was not only personal but also political,"he explains. He has always been involved with the Left movement in Bengal and had to run away from home during the emergency period. "That time the only option was to study surgery and take up a transferable job. However, after 1984 when things became normal, I quit everything and started general practice in Kalna, to serve people at the grassroots." So involved is the doctor with the local people, that, he says, taking even a few days off becomes problematic.
Dr Goswami humbly talks about how he attends to four patients at one go. "Otherwise I will not be able to finish attending to allof them. On normal days, I attend to at least a hundred. Some days I have attended to 200 people", he says. He never sends anyone back without attending, because of which sometimes he has to stay up till midnight. He says, "The time between 8 pm to 10 pm I keep reserved to attend to emergency calls or house visits, otherwise the rest of the time I am always present in the chamber."
Moreover, being the Councillor of Kalna Municipality, he has to attend meetings and undertake many welfare measures for his area. He has also served as the Chairman of Kalna Municipality before. On being asked how he manages all these things together, he elaborates, "I love working for the people; that keeps me happy and going. Also, the respect and love I get in return gives me enough strength to keep working hard for them."
Surely such hectic schedule and tiring work requires support from the household, which is ably provided by Mrs Goswami. "Both my children work in America. I myself get the love and respect of the people of Kalna and I am proud of my husband's service to society." Talking about the meagre fees of rupees 5 that he charges from his patients, she says, "I have never had problems running the family kitchen and we are happy, that is all I wanted in life."
Interestingly, Dr Goswami is not the first in his family to take up this noble profession. "My grandfather, who was also a doctor, used to treat patients in the same room where I practice today. Those were the days when treatment was a more personalised affair. The population has trebled today and there is no time to talk to the patient. I listen to their symptoms and through my experience and knowledge give them medicines or exercises. I avoid costly examinations as most of my patients are too poor to afford them."
He cites two big problems with the health sector in Kalna. The first being lack of proper education and hygienic consciousness on the part of the rural poor. The second is mistreatment by quacks. He believes that quacks cannot be replaced by trained professionals overnight but they need to stay within limits else often cases become complicated. "I also believe that private medical care has a big role to play in the rural health sector, but they need to be more about healthcare and less about business," he adds.
Dr Goswami has always shied away from prizes and recognitions because he believes he has more work to do. A "funny" incident he recalls happened in the year 2000, when his son was a student at the Presidency College. He recounts, "My son told me how he had met a beggar in front of Medical College seeking alms for treatment. When he looked at the prescription, he found my name on it".
With the number of patients swelling outside the chamber, Dr Goswami signs off, saying "Once someone had asked me how many days I wish to run the clinic for five rupees. I said, till the time they do not stop minting the coin."

The Poorest Chief Minister of India: Mr Manik Sarkar

The story about the ‘POOREST CM’ of India

Question: Are we living in the age of scams, corruption and immorality? 

First answer to this question would probably be ‘YES’ when every day or other a whole new story of big scam came into light and every new scam surpass the earlier in terms of money and the level of people involved in it.

When, we see that Ordinary clerical grade employee has worth of crores of rupees and IAS/IPS are caught red handed definitely corruption is rampant in every circle of our life.

Starting from the clerk to top official are allegedly involved in corruption. 2G scam, CWG scam, tetra truck and very recent Coalgate scam and chopper scam all have come into light in a series.

Not only big scams if we look around the working of different departments & organizations, we find that corruption is on rampant and it is increasing day by day despite the government introducing new bills & Acts etc .

If we search the basic reason for all this degradation then we find that it is moral degradation for society which is responsible. In a society, where everything is weighted in terms of money and power, greed for more and more money and power is increasing. Resulting,  corruption and moral degradation.

We have become so used to with these thing that we generally ignore to analyze it properly and loss of moral values and passion for more and more showing off.

But then suddenly I remember Men Like Mr Manik Sarkar Chief Minister, Tripura.people who have courage and strength to fight this evil of society from the core of his heart.

He is honest, brave and source of inspiration for others. He has been elected for consecutively fourth terms as Chief Minister.

First some facts about this person.

1.      He is the poorest Chief Minister of India.

2.      He has been elected as chief minister consecutively for fourth term

3.      He doesn’t own a home;

4.      His bank balance is Rs. 6500/-

5.      He donates all his salary to CPI (M), and party gives him sustenance allowance of Rs 5000/- month.

6.      His wife never uses official vehicle and can very easily be seen on Rickshaw in Agartala.

7.    Even his worst opponents admit that Manik Sarkar is an impeccably honest man, certainly a rare variety among politicians today

Now, compare these with other chief ministers or politicians, who have assets worth crores of rupees!

Apart from honesty, Mr Manik Sarkar has been impetuous for the development of the state which includes better connectivity and development of IT sector in state. He was also responsible for bringing the concept of public-private partnership and invigorated private intervention, particularly in the IT sector. 

It is true that now a days principledpolitics is available only in books and not in reality in our country, but not so with Manik Sarkar in Tripura. If the forces of goodness and probity are unbridled in politics, which is loathsome to many, then there is trust. And once there is trust, there is faith. The concept of goodwill and faith then come into a larger picture of incorruptibility. Political analysts could do well to study such redemption in this state, intractable in a corner of the Northeast and usually reflected as socioeconomically & geographically backward and militant affected Men like Sarkar prove me wrong that we are living in the age of corruption there is still a light of hope in Indian politics and polity. Marxists have lost their grip in West Bengal and Kerala but have won with aplomb in Tripura proves that a lot of depends on the leadership He is true believer of famous saying................................................

“If you once forfeit the confidence of your fellow citizens, you can never regain their respect and esteem. It is true that you  may fool all of the people some of the time; you can even fool some of the people all of the time; but you can't fool all of the people all of the time."

...................................................................................................................................Abraham Lincoln

Mr Manik Sarkar is well regarded for his sympathy toward the tribal population and for the passion towards the overall development of tribal in state. With all his efforts, honesty & simplicity Mr Sarkars has been able to transform a political party into a people’s party. Other political parties in the country should learn how honesty and political intelligence can work wonders Mr Sarkar has also tried his level best to provide employment to the tribals. He has promoted the literature and culture of the state, varied as it is with tribal community, tea garden community, the Chakmas, the Meitieis and the others.

In such a situation, his example is not only exceptional but is a silent story of working for the poor, the landless and the deprived. Today, if Tripura is on the way to peace and development, it is only due to him Mr Sarkar has also been successful to control militancy with his transparency and empathy toward indigenous people of Tripura. He always tries to solve their problems and resolve their apprehensions. In his term he reserved jobs in every government post for them, he tried to genuinely uplift them. Now he is focusing on education and giving education the top priority. 

The example set by Sarkar, with his honesty, behaviour and sincere concern for the people of the state especially the poor, the indigenous population, many of whom are on the path of militancy, should be highlighted to show that all Indian politicians have not transgressed the promontories of probity and incorruptibility. 

 ; Again I will end this story with a famous saying of Abraham Lincoln...

“I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live up to what light I have― Abraham Lincoln

 

The IAS story of the Mr. Narayanaswamy IAS

The script almost looks like a masala Malayalam movie from Shaji Kailas. For a change in this script , the hero is not an IPS officer but a honest IAS officer with high calibre , qualifications and integrity.

First Rank in State in Secondary School Examination , Kerala State
First Rank in Plus Two , Mahatma Gandhi University
Tenth Rank in IIT JEE
First Rank in IIT Computer Science , B :tech

He gets a scholarship from the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA . Instead of going there he writes the Indian Civil Service Examination and two more things in his profile.

First Rank in IAS Entrance Examination
First Rank in IAS Training Institute.

Some of you may remember the story in the front pages of Malayalam Newspapers way back in 1989 when a small frail guy from Kerala topped civil services. There was a complete supplement in Manorama on a Sunday tracing the academic journey of the iyer swami from Changanacherry who wanted to give back to the nation.Moi remember that even now because I felt it strange to read that somebody had topped all exams that he wrote in his life.

It is interesting to check the career of Iyer Swami after this. Just take a wild guess on what would have happened ?

13 positions in 15 years from Kasargod to Thiruvananthapuram.

Once in a while a controversy appears in Malayalam newspapers which involve Iyer Swami but it has been proved beyond doubt that he is a man of high integrity and honesty.

One of those brilliant minds which would have been used in Silicon Valley being wasted in Kerala Civil Services.

Here is an excerpt from the Indian Express report

This middle class Iyer from Changanassery, known for taking on political and other heavies like few IAS officers would dare, has remained a pariah for most parties in Kerala’s two political halves. The brushes soon came to a point where he took on his father-in-law, a big-time contractor, who wanted to block off a public road to a poor neighbourhood of Scheduled Castes to wall up land for himself.

“I requested my father-in-law not to misuse my position as the local Sub-Collector, but he wouldn’t listen. I invoked the Criminal Procedure Code and served orders on him, called in the police and carried out the demolition,” recounts the man who once led a raid on the home of one of Kerala’s politically influential liquor barons who wouldn’t pay up the Rs 11 crore that he owed the government in taxes, and seized his belongings. A minister rang up, asking him to lay off and return the seized stuff, Narayanaswamy refused and was on the political hitlist yet again.

Controversies, and trouble, have always been with Narayanaswamy, the topper of the 1991 IAS batch — he topped the SSC exams as well — and a topper at IIT Chennai’s computer science department who turned down an MIT scholarship to enter the Civil Service. Nine years ago, he bulldozed the sides of an important Thrissur road to widen it, hitting businesses with clout who pulled strings to perpetually harass him. Five years ago, he had a run-in with a prominent north Kerala minister in Kasargod. Narayanaswamy refused to recommend sanction as the local District Collector, to turn a hospital that the minister owned into a private medical college, without prescribed infrastructure.

Now , all his controversies are not like this . After reading this and another controversy about his car when he was the Thrissur Collector, I always wondered what he was doing. May be the articles would have been framed by someone to tarnish his image . It seems highly unlikely that Iyer Swami would have been a culprit in all these cases.

May be Iyer Swami is over qualified and a person of his caliber should not have witten the civil services exam. Civil Services need only tail wagging "YES" men who has rubber spines who will bend according to the wills of corrupt political bosses.


There is a huge hue and cry when people from elite institutes leave this country in search of better pastures . Iyer Swami is a living example of a brilliant mind with honesty and integrity that is being wasted in a system which has so much bureaucratic hurdles , nepotism and corruption. Everyone cries about the corruption in the country and people laments that this country will go to dogs . When someone takes the responsibility he finds himself sans of any support to him/her from the political bosses or common man who anyway doesn't have a voice in the decision making of this country.



May be the careers of many civil service officers like Iyer Swami , T N Seshan , Alphonse Kannanthanam , G R Khairnar etcc shows that IAS officers cant take free decisions above the illiterate and selfish politicians / political parties in India and you can't blame the young generation for leaving this country for better pastures.





But I hope a million officers like Iyer Swami will stay back and clean up the system and make it transparent for common man.

My heart is like an open highway
Like Frankie said I did it my way
I just want to live while I'm alive 'Cause it's my life

Better stand tall when they're calling you out
Don't bend, don't break, baby, don't back down

Want to Know further----http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raju_Narayana_Swamy