ISHAN KARAN
Ranchi, June 13: There is an old adage: when money talks, people listen. It fits in so perfectly in the context of Jharkhand. But “people” are the privileged few-mostly the government servants from various services. But as in other cases, here also the lead is being taken by a chosen few belonging to the top services of the country-the IAS.
The rampant corrupt practices by IAS officer Pooja Singhal, presently languishing in jail, is just the tip of an iceberg. Jharkhand since its inception in 2000 became a money-minting factory for the bureaucracy. Many top bureaucrats in the earlier days believed in ‘drain of wealth theory’. Money earned here was unvested somewhere else, so typical of East India Company style. Big bungalows in the national capital, farm houses in various states, foreign tours, sandwich massages etc. were the order of the day. Some top ranking officials used to travel to Delhi by Rajdhani Express carrying huge luggage. But they always preferred flights while coming back with a sling bag. Reasons were so obvious. In short, ‘globalisation’ of bureaucracy had not taken place.
But gradually the perception changed with the advent of a new generation of “super dynamic super bold” bureaucrats. Drain of wealth stopped and the economy of Jharkhand began to flourish, thanks to this new gang of “bold entrepreneurs”. Hospitals, resorts, petrol pumps, diagnostic centres, hotels, beauty parlours, malls, shopping centres etc began to come up at a break-neck speed. The common men of Jharkhand were “overwhelmed”.
With this background, let us examine the “achievements” and credentials of some individual officers. One retired officer, who was the apple of the eye of the Lalu government in Bihar, maintained the same status in the newly created Jharkhand. The assets of this officer is spread all over India, including a huge investment in Bollywood.
Another one of the senior-most officers is an interesting case study. His style is different. He would first skyrocket the budget of the department he is holding in a very planned manner. Thereafter, he would begin the systematic loot through purchases of equipment, construction activities, consultancy hiring, hiring of outsourcing agencies, and so on.
One very senior officer, who is about to retire is another case. While he was district head in his younger days, he fixed the commission from every section of the district, including the Treasury. During the last few years, his main source of income is transfer-posting, dropping of allegations after creating them himself, the release of the budget allotment, and so on.
Another IAS officer, who called the shots in the previous government, is perhaps the cleverest of them all. He is said to have amassed huge wealth without doing anything. He used to call the shots on behalf of almost all the departments in return for heavy “consultancy” fees from departmental heads. If a departmental head refused, then someone below would oblige him, especially in cases of works departments. Inquiry by some central agency would reveal his investments in real estate, and land purchases in Ranchi and other cities.
For the younger lot of this prestigious service, the sky’s the limit. One officer, who was DC in a few districts as well as Municipal Commissioner, is having a number of middlemen who collect for him.
There is another IAS officer who was deputy commissioner of a coal-bearing district. His rate for giving permission to coal companies under the CNT Act was Rs 1 lakh per acre. Imagine the amount which the companies had to pay him where hundreds of acres are involved.
The most interesting case is of a recently promoted secretary rank IAS officer. He demanded Rs 200 crores from a group of mining companies involved in the iron ore business. His name should be included in the Guinness Book of Records as no other IAS officer anywhere in India would have gone for this big amount. No wonder his boss immediately removed him once he came to know it. The enormity of the amount was too much even for him to digest. This IAS officer is famous for his corrupt practices. Most of his investments are in one of the southern states.
(To be continued. If you have any such story about the black sheep in any of the services, please send it to lagatar24@lagatar.in. Your identity will be kept strictly confidential.)
