- Bribe Hotline
- 13 years ago
- 4540 views
I would love to know reason to become your ex ias officer-if retired pls share some of your experience of bribery during your service. I met longback Ms.Izdes **********, who is IAS officer mumbai collect
I left the IAS after 26 years of service, last year. I still had 10 years of service left. The reason why I left is because I thought I could do more outside the service than within it. I did not leave out of disgust or because I was disillusioned. I treasure my years in the service; just that I thought I had outgrown it and there was a larger destiny awaiting me. Yes, I have had some experiences relating to corruption.
First, nobody has offered me a bribe. Once people know that you are clean, they don’t approach you. I’m sure corruption was happening all around me, but not with me.
In my official life, I’ve been part of several investigations into corrupt activities. One such instance was more than 20 years ago when I was in the food department, where I followed up on a case where I discovered that a senior district level officer was diverting palm oil meant for ration card holders, to oil mills. I conducted several raids personally and unearthed a streamlined racket in which oil was issued to ration shops on the basis of the quota for ration cards, and then after a short while, the surplus oil was reallotted stealthily to a few ration shops alone. From this reallocation, the oil was diverted to oil mills, where they were used to adulterate more expensive vegetable oil. On the basis of my investigation, there was an uproar in the Assembly and the officer concerned was asked to go on leave. He was not suspended. Years later, the case came up for hearing before the Lokayukta. I was called upon to give evidence for two days, but he was let off. No criminal case was filed too. The officer has since retired.
In my personal life there have been some amusing incidents. When my father passed away, I went to the BMP office where I was asked to make a contribution to the ‘official’s fund’. I just raised my voice and cursed the man, saying that he would rot in hell, for collecting bribes on death certificates. I also said that I would pay, if he would give me a receipt. Everybody in the office turned and looked in my direction, including other citizens. The man quietly lowered his head and gave me the certificate.
A third incident happened recently. I was sitting in a roadside restaurant, when two policemen came on a Cheetah motorcycle and openly took a bribe from the restaurant owner. I chased the policemen, accosted them while they got on the bike and shouted at them; I told them they should be ashamed of themselves for coming and asked them whether they were thieves or policemen. They were aggressive at first, but then, they slunk away.
There have been failures too. I have tried unsuccessfully to close a shop that sells liquor near my mother’s house. I have no problem with selling liquor, but they were selling drinks openly to people on the road. All that I have been able to do is to chase the drunkards off the streets. But now the shop has an unauthorized bar in the back room. And the police regularly collect a weekly hafta.
So life is full of ups and downs!