IN three years as Vigilance Commissioner of Andhra Pradesh, Ramchandra Samal did not release a single report. But, a week after retiring on September 7, the officer dropped a bombshell in the form of a 56-page document on corrupt bureaucrats and politicians who shield and promote them. The report has sent waves of panic among the bureaucracy and embarrassed the Congress government. Titled “My years as vigilance commissioner of Andhra Pradesh”, it was submitted to Chief Secretary J. Harinarayana and also released to the media.
There has been all round deterioration in the governance in the country and the state is no exception. Large number of All India Civil Services members run helter-skelter for lucrative posts. Their image, prestige or integrity, all have reached rock bottom,” says the report. It adds: “There are also 15 to 20 per cent men of integrity who are very capable men with capacity to work and deliver but there is mismatch in postings. The politicians here manipulate. They want officers who serve their interests and there are many members who sub serve the interests of politicians.”
Samal, a 1969-batch IAS officer of the AP cadre, has detailed how politicians issue orders reinstating suspended officials involved in criminal cases and how the bodies created to root out corruption were being misused to protect the corrupt. From the Chief Minister’s office and ministers to bodies like the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) and the Andhra Pradesh Administrative Tribunal, Samal has spared none in his “crusade against corruption”.
He has pointed out how Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy asked the ACB not to conduct discreet inquiries against All-India Service Officers of the AP cadre without his approval. Describing the home department as a repository of saviours of criminals headed by “dreaded” Home Minister K Jana Reddy, Samal says: “His own antecedents should have been verified by intelligence agencies and a report submitted to the chief minister to consider whether he is fit material, even in a cabinet system of democracy, to be appointed as home minister.”
Bodies created to root
out corruption are misused
to protect the corrupt:
He has named 18“corrupt”officials– 12 IAS,four Indian Forest Service (IFS) and two Indian Police Service (IPS) officers. “They are involved in corruption/criminal misconduct or in very serious violations of provisions of conduct rules. The list is not exhaustive only illustrative,” he writes. “Corruption has increased by leaps and bounds along with maladministration. Vigilance Commission also failed to rise to the people’s expectations. It is not able to deliver the goods, as it has no investigative agencies under its direct control.” According to Samal, as of July 27, 2007, there were about 450 inquiry cases pending against corrupt officers, some for years. He complains of non-cooperation from the government in quick disposal of inquiries pending against officers. Referring to the ACB, he says its dismal performance continued for years and reached a zenith. “It has virtually become defunct. In fact it is functioning negatively. The ACB officials have joined general police in large scale seeing that posts in general police are more lucrative. Home Minister K Jana Reddy phoned me to clear files for release of ACB officials to general police.”
He also points out that the AP Administrative Tribunal has a limited mandate but some members take on all sorts of cases and pass all sorts of orders. “The tribunal is not manned by knowledgeable persons. It is only a rehabilitation centre for the retired bureaucrats and judges and briefless advocates,” he remarks.
Samal describes the home
department as a repository
of saviours of criminals
headed by ‘dreaded’ Home
Minister K Jana Reddy
The government has reacted strongly, saying Samal has overstepped his limits by commenting on the functioning of the elected representatives and constitutional bodies. “Nobody with a sane mind would call civil servants a bunch of thugs as he has done. There are black sheep in all areas but it is not fair to pass such sweeping remarks against the entire system, bureaucracy and even constitutional bodies,” said the Chief Minister.
He gave a clean chit to the Home Minister and two officials in his own office – Principal Secretary Jannat Hussain and Special Secretary MG VK Bhanu At the same time, Rajasekhara Reddy has formed a three-member committee headed by Chief Secretary J Harinarayana to look into Samal’s report and recommend corrective steps. The other committee members are SSP Yadav, Director-General, Anti-Corruption Bureau, and RR Girish Kumar, Director-General, Vigilance and Enforcement. All the three officers were named by Samal in his report
There is considerable speculation as to what provoked Samal. Though some dismiss it as insanity, others say it is pique at not being promoted to Chief Secretary or being given an extension as Vigilance Commissioner. Samal, who is from Orissa, saw batchmate TK Dewan promoted to Chief Secretary. “His report appears a curtainraiser of the book he plans to write. I think he has done this to generate curiosity about the book,” was the comment of the Chief Minister, who also suspects his predecessor and Leader of the Opposition N Chandrababu Naidu had a hand in the affair. “Why did he keep quiet for three long years and choose not to submit even a single report? Had he brought this to my notice, I would have taken necessary action,” said Rajasekhara Reddy.
The main Opposition party, the Telugu Desam, which is headed by Naidu, has urged Governor ND Tiwari to convene an Assembly session to discuss the report. “Samal’s report has vindicated our stand. We have been saying for the last three years that this government is neck-deep in corruption,” said Naidu.
Samal’s report is also perceived as the outburst of an officer whose recommendations were ignored by the government. He has said he did not submit annual reports because the reports of his predecessors simply went into dustbins. The Chief Minister has tried to declare that he and officers in his office are above board. His move to defend a few officers has divided the top bureaucracy as others named in the report have been left to defend themselves. Some of them hit back with unprintable comments. DC Rosaiah, one of the retired IAS officers named in the report, demanded that the government order an inquiry into Samal’s illegal assets. A section of IAS officers is also feeling let down by their association, which confined itself to condemning Samal’s allegations and welcoming the probe ordered by the government. However, there were few options before the association, whose secretary SN Mohanty too figures in the report. Some bureaucrats as well as the Home Minister threatened to file a defamation suit but realized that this would keep the issue in the public domain and more names could crop up during the hearing.
‘Why did he keep quiet for three long
years and choose not to submit even a
single report? Had he brought this to my
notice, I would have taken necessary
action’ – CM YS Rajasekhara Reddy
Samal’s threat to expose 160 All-India Services bureaucrats working in Andhra Pradesh has also triggered panic. He threatened to make public a list of such bureaucrats facing charges of either corruption or irregularities, saying that the 18 names in his report constitute only the tip of the iceberg. Samal also claimed to have details of about 10,000 lower grade corrupt officials. The state government employees’ associations accused Samal of harassing them and recommending their dismissal on trivial corruption charges. AP NGO Association president V Gopal Reddy demanded that the government recover salaries and allowances from Samal as he failed to submit annual reports to the Assembly for three years. A section of officers also demanded that retired government employees be brought under the purview of the Official Secrets Act to prevent them from going public with official documents after retirement.
But support for Samal, who left for Bhubaneswar three days after releasing the report, has come from some quarters. Lok Satta Party national coordinator Jayaprakash Narayan advocated autonomy for the Vigilance Commission and the ACB to facilitate effective coordination between them. Narayan, a former IAS officer who resigned to launch a movement for democratic reforms a decade ago, said Samal’s report highlighted a key issue – that successive governments have failed to act on the specific recommendations of the ACB.
