Several grave issues arise from the sorry episode involving Rashmi Mahesh, the IAS officer of Karnataka who was assaulted by some hoodlums in Mysore a couple of days back. Rashmi is the Director General of the Administrative Training Institute, Mysore and in that capacity, is in charge of the State Institute of Rural Development too. She launched an investigation into alleged irregularities in the Institute when she took charge a few months back. It is stated that an employee of the institute committed suicide a couple of days back as a consequence of her pursuing this investigation. When she went to pay her respects, some individuals surrounded her and attacked her. They even attempted to set fire to her car. The fact that there was a TV camera on the spot to record everything and then broadcast it, shows that the attack was premeditated. The police took nearly half an hour to arrive. Arrests of the attackers, not all of them relatives of the dead individual, but some of whom were contractors of the Institute as well, were delayed and happened only yesterday. Following the attack, Rashmi went to the press and blew the whistle on her investigation. She said that the previous Director General, in collaboration with other officers, had diverted central grants from the 12th Finance Commission into a separate Panchayat Fund, from where private gifts and other procurements were made irregularly, for the Institute. She said that she had submitted a report regarding these irregularities to the government of Karnataka four months back, but no action had been taken. The curious thing is that the previous Director General had been in this job for six years, including several years when she held additional charge of the job, as she moved to becoming the Secretary Rural Development and Panchayat Raj and the Principal Secretary, Energy Department, in Karnataka. Today, the Chief Secretary of Karnataka has said that a notice will be issued to Rashmi, to explain why action should not be taken against her, for going to the press against the provisions of the conduct rules that apply to IAS officers. The issues that arise with respect to this case are as follows: (a) Karnataka does not have a whistle blower protection legislation. In circumstances such as these, who protects Rashmi? Is she to be abandoned to protect herself? Do we have another Durga Shakti Nagpal like situation here? (b) Why did the government not take any action for four months, after the report was submitted by Rashmi? That is in stark contrast to the alacrity with which an explanation has been sought from Rashmi. (c) Regardless of whether corruption was there in the procurement process or otherwise, the allegation that money that was supposed to go to the Panchayats from the Centre, was diverted into a separate Panchayat Fund from where withdrawals were made, is a serious one. If funds were delayed and diverted from the central funding streams going to the Panchayat, that would be in violation of constitutional provisions. Will the government clarify on that, even as the investigation into corruption continues?
Posted on: Sat, 18 Oct 2014 08:32:57 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015