New Delhi: It’s ironical that Sanjiv Chaturvedi, an Indian Forest Services (IFS) officer who claims to be virtually ‘jobless’ at present, was recently chosen for the Ramon Magsaysay Award.
The award, named after former Philippine president Ramon Magsaysay and established in 1957, recognises Asian individuals who achieve excellence in their respective fields. It is considered Asia’s highest honour and widely regarded as the region’s equivalent of the Nobel Prize.
Chaturvedi, 40, has been recognised for his “exemplary integrity, courage and tenacity in uncompromisingly exposing and painstakingly investigating corruption in public offices, and his resolute crafting of programme and system improvements to ensure that government honourably serves the people of India.”
Belonging to the Haryana cadre, Chaturvedi was transferred 12 times in 5 years. At several instances, he was kept without work or posting. He says, “Right in the beginning of my career, I was placed under suspension. Later, cases were built against me and I was threatened of being thrown out of service. For us, annual reports are very important for career promotions. But the state authority spoiled my reports by planting false police cases against me.”
Seeing his clean image, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had requested the Central government seeking the services of Chaturvedi as his officer on special duty (OSD). The decision has been pending for months. Continuously targeted for exposing corruption, he is locked in a struggle with the Centre.
He speaks to Gulf News in an exclusive interview.
GULF NEWS: Given your history, when posted from Haryana to Delhi, seven ministers are known to have refused to induct you in their ministries. Does the award bring a sense of vindication?
SANJIV CHATURVEDI: Yes, there’s a sense of elation and vindication of my actions and also for all the honest bureaucrats of our country, who are fighting similar type of political-bureaucrat nexus prevalent in many parts of India.
In June 2012, when I was posted to Delhi, I am told, ministries refused to induct me, despite a serious crisis of officers of my (deputy director) level in the government. So, on the one hand, we have a crisis, but on the other hand, strangely, the ministers don’t want you. It was after a wait of over seven months and several rejections that the health ministry chose me.
Given the scams you unearthed at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), which falls under the health ministry, the officials must be cursing themselves?
Official records say that then health minister Gulam Nabi Azad was very happy with my work and mentioned I was a man of integrity, who had done his duties without fear or favour. But last year, when Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Dr Harsh Vardhan, who was then the health minister, removed me from the post of Chief Vigilance Officer (CVO) in AIIMS, claiming that the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) had not cleared my name, it came as a shock. The fact is that in the 70 year history of AIIMS, clearance from CVC was never sought. For some ulterior motives, false and fabricated information was spread against me. Among those opposed to my continuation in office is the present health minister (J.P. Nadda), because I had acted against top officials at AIIMS including a bureaucrat (Vineet Chaudhry). (Both Nadda and Chaudhry are from the same state — Himachal Pradesh). This is a clear example of the politician-bureaucrat nexus.
How can such types of nexus be broken?
Enough power is given to bureaucrats and elaborate procedures are enshrined in our Constitution. We have the most overprotective bureaucratic set-up in the world and it is next to impossible to throw out any All India Services officer out of his job. But due to lack of willpower among bureaucrats, this nexus exists.
What’s changed after you exposed corruption at AIIMS?
There were several small and large issues that we tackled. Middlemen were involved in making OPD cards for patients by charging them. A person with strong political links was allowed to run a medicines shop from the hospital premises. He was supplying inferior quality medicines having undesirable side effects on poor patients. We also unearthed irregularities in construction work. Presently, over Rs40 billion (Dh2.26 billion) worth of construction projects are on at the AIIMS centre in Delhi and at Jhajjar in Haryana, where construction of one of the largest cancer treatment facilities in the country is going on. There were complaints about misappropriation of funds by people at the helm. Also, AIIMS has numerous private guards and every month Rs30 million is spent on them. Then there were cases of sexual harassment and apartments in the institute that were sublet by doctors. So, over 200 cases were tackled and no one has got reprieve from the courts.
How were you able to unearth so many scams?
Sitting in my room alone I could not have been able to do anything. Senior officers and an efficient staff, who conducted the raids, supported me. When you start taking action, the message spreads rapidly. People are sure that if they complain, action will be taken. I started getting anonymous complaints from people who would slide documents under main door of my residence. There was tremendous flow of information and more than 90 per cent of those were correct.
What is your current work situation?
Presently, as deputy secretary, I am without any proper assignment and almost jobless. Actually, earlier, there was no post of a CVO in AIIMS. But with persistent demand for an independent post from the CVC and also pressure from the Parliamentary Standing Committee (PSC) saying there was huge budget, but numerous complaints of irregularities at AIIMS, the job was created in 2002 and I was the first incumbent. So, when a post is created in a government set-up, the authorities have to justify that post before the ministry of finance, which is briefed about the duties assigned to an officer. Accordingly, the salary and allowances are fixed. Since no duties are being given to me, I have taken the matter to court.
You’ve been risking your life and getting threats to your life. How do you deal with it?
Once you start tackling the system, you come to know the rules of the game. One has to be careful and cannot evade every risk, except taking different approaches. When I was in Haryana, the central government supported me and now I have the support of the PSC and the judiciary.
Facts
- Sanjiv Chaturvedi was born on December 21, 1974 in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, to Kalavati and D S Chaturvedi.
- He graduated in Electrical Engineering from the National Institute of Technology, Allahabad.
- He is an officer of the 2002 batch of the Indian Forest Service (IFS) from Haryana cadre.
- Secured all India second rank in the IFS examinations and received 2 medals from the President of India for excellence as a trainee.
