Craft and graft

R P Singh a 1976 batch IAS officer of the Andhra Pradesh cadre and Chairman, National Highway Authority of India (NHAI), is known for his hard work and honesty. A well-known admirer of the Prime Minister in the bureaucracy, he is a multi-faceted personality and writes poems and songs that can be viewed on youtube. NHAI was in mess before he joined as Chairman and Managing Director. Today, officials and contractors are terrified of the way he has evolved a mechanism to remove corruption. The moment he learns that any form of graft has changed hands in a certain project, Singh calls both the contractor and the officer into his office. It is a peculiar situation where the bribe giver and taker are both sitting in the chairman’s room. He bluntly asks both parties, “How much money has changed hands?” Both the parties sitting across can’t state the wrong facts. The officers, who have taken the graft have to return the money to the contractors and if anyone tries to play any tricks with Singh, he simply says that the case will be sent to the CBI. Naturally, everybody falls in line. But, if you are thinking the NHAI is corruption free now, you are mistaken. Complaints are pouring into the CMD’s office from across the country regarding the corrupt practices of both officers and contractors. But, action seems to be slow. Is there something cooking at the top? Watch this space for more…