The Civil Services are known as the steel structure that holds up the Indian government. It is the toughest exam in India and only the best of the best qualify to become officers of IAS, IPS, IRS, IFS etc. While corruption hasn’t spared the civil services, there are and always have been honest and incorruptible officers who have challenged the government whenever it has lost its way.
Here are the top 7 cases of civil servants taking on the very government that they work for.
7. Kiran Bedi
Kiran Bedi is famous for being a badass IPS officer. She highlighted the strength a woman can bring to such a job. There have been many cases in her career when she wasn’t afraid to challenge the norms and take on the government and other politicians but the most impressive case has to be when she had Indira Gandhi’s car towed for a parking violation. The government had gotten tired of her honesty and had transferred her to handle the traffic department of Delhi. She didn’t change her ways and became so strict that she was nicknamed “Crane Bedi” for her habit of having cars towed.
6. Vinod Rai
Vinod Rai has an impressive resume with a Masters in Economics from Delhi University and a Masters in Public Administration from Harvard. He was the Comptroller and Auditor General of India and was responsible for exposing the government in the 2G scam and the Commonwealth scam. He is also the chairman of the United Nations Panel of External Auditors. His fearlessness in exposing any irregularities in government deals has brought him on this list of exemplary IAS officers.
5. Rajni Sekhri Sibal
Rajni Sekhri Sibal helped reveal the Haryana recruitment scam with 4 meters of cloth. The Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala was involved in a scam in which interview scores of 3200 teachers were manipulated to give jobs to those who had paid for it. Rajni was asked to participate in the scam for 5% of the bribe money collected, but she refused. She was promptly transferred but she had the presence of mind to seal the almirah containing the files of the teachers with 4 meters of cloth and have several officers sign it to prevent tempering of the files.
4. Ashok Khemka
Ashok Khemka cancelled a deal between DLF and Sonia Gandhi’s son in law, Robert Vadra. The 57 crore land deal was full of irregularities according to Khemka. Just a few days later he was transferred from that department and the deal was cleared by his successor. He also exposed a scam in Haryana Seed Development Corporation in which they planned on selling overly priced seeds to the government for a profit of 5 crores. As a reward for his honesty, many chargesheets have been filed against him for dereliction of duty.
3. Durga Shakti Nagpal
Durga Shakti Nagpal was suspended by Akhilesh Yadav’s government in Uttar Pradesh. Her suspension has been met with outrage from all corners as it is seen as a sign of political power trying to bully an honest IAS officer. Her fault has been that she took on the sand mafia that quarries sand from the Yamuna bank without much concern for the rules and regulations. This recent suspension is the latest in the standard operating procedure for honest civil servants who are either suspended, transferred or have to quit out of sheer desperation.
2. Arvind Kejriwal
Arvind Kejriwal was the Joint Commissioner of the Income Tax Department before he quit to become a social worker and now a politician. His story is well known as one IRS officer’s crusade against the corrupt power houses of the politicians. He was responsible for the enactment of the Right to Information Act and later helped in drafting the Jan Lokpal Bill. He decided to quit civil services to be able to continue his fight against corruption and maybe that’s the only way left for honest civil servants. He continues to do his good work now from within the political system.
1. Raju Narayana Swamy
Raju Narayana Swamy is an IAS officer with the highest of moral principles. He currently is the Secretary to Government, General Administration (Sainik Welfare), Kerala. He has continuously taken on politicians and the government and so has faced countless transfers. He even took on his own father in law which led to strains in his marriage. He took on the children of public works minister T.U. Kuruvilla for illegal land holdings which led to the resignation of the minister. He exposed the Kerala government’s corrupt deals while working as the Commissioner of Civil Supplies Department and was transferred as a reward for his honesty.
Aditya Thakur is an ex marine engineer who quit his sailing career to pursue his dreams of being a writer. Now he freelances, blogs and writes short stories all day long.
