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Death of a Whistleblower

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Death of a Whistleblower (1973-2003) Satyendra Dubey the son of Bageshwari Dubey and Phulamati Devi was born at the village of Sahpur in the Siwan district of Bihar, India. The family of five girls and two boys subsisted on a small piece of land, and Bageshwari also held a low- paying clerical position in a nearby sugar mill. At the age of 15 he studied at the Gang Baksh Kanodiya High School in Sahpur . Then joined junior college at Allahabad, . He was admitted to the Civil Engineering Department of IIT Kanpur in 1990,graduated in 1994. Subsequently, he did his M. Tech (Civil Engg.) from Indian Institute of Technology (BHU) Varanasi in 1996. Died :- 27 November 2003 (aged 30) Cause of death – Assassination Place :- Gaya, India. July 2002 he was employed by the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI). He became the Assistant Project Manager at Koderma, Jharkhand. Responsible for managing a part of the Aurangabad-Barachatti section of National Highway 2 (The Grand Trunk Road). This highway was part of the Golden Quadrilateral (GQ) Corridor Project, the US$ 12 billion project was to build a 6000 km highway network linking India’s four major cities. It was the dream project of the then PM of India, Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee and was launched in the year 1999. Dubey wrote a letter to the PMO citing the various corruptions that were on going in the GQ project. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7PdmG CcPik . In November 2002, Satyendra Dubey sent a letter to the PMO detailing systemic corruption in the National Highway Authority of India. He named four contractors and gave details of their misdeeds. In order to protect himself, he also made a special request that his name be kept secret when the PMO investigated the matter. Satyendra's name was not protected and the file containing his complaint was circulated to various offices. This was like issuing a public contract for his life. A year later, on 27, November 2003, Satyendra was murdered in Gaya, the town where he lived and worked for NHAI. News reports about Satyendra's murder stirred the nation and unleashed a storm of outrage. Within days the Prime Minister's Office and NHAI issued statements defending themselves and trivializing Satyendra's death. On December 14th, 2003 , the case was handed over to the CBI. By 26 th December, the CBI said that according to the evidence given by rickshaw puller Pradeep Kumar, Satyendra had been killed when resisting thieves who were trying to rob him. Most people refused to believe this and the CBI's explanation further intensified the public outrage. In mid-January, 2004 key witness, Pradeep Kumar, "disappeared". Two other witnesses, who were interrogated by the CBI in this case, allegedly committed suicide within a day in the end of January. There was no investigation of these murky happenings or the CBI's role in these suspicious deaths. After keeping quiet for about six months, the CBI again repeated the earlier story in June 2004. There has been no public investigation of the alleged corruption within the NHAI and thus no attempt to set things right. Detail Project Reports (DPR) by design consultants are in ‘‘very poor shape and cannot be implemented in the field without major modifications...The result is that the DPRs on the basis of which tenders have been called are like garbage.’’ . Process of procurement ‘‘completely manipulated and hijacked’’ by the big contractors. Many contractors are ‘‘submitting forged documents to justify their technical and financial capabilities.’’ . The ‘‘big contractors have been able to get all sorts of help from the officials in NHAI and even the note sheets carrying approval of Chairman have been leaked outside.’’ . NHAI officials have shown great hurry in giving ‘‘mobilisation advance to selected contractors... No surprise as the commission to officials for award of work are linked to the contractors getting their first mobilisation advance.’’ . The entire mobilisation advance of 10% of contract value (which goes up to Rs 40 crore in certain cases) has been paid to the contractors ‘‘within a few weeks of award of work’’ without follow-up to ensure they are ‘‘actually mobilised at site with the same pace.’’ . ‘‘Diversion or idling of funds... in case of equipment advances to the contractors, another 10 per cent of the contract value.’’ . NHAI is going for international competitive bidding to procure the most competent civil contractor for execution of its projects. When it comes to the actual execution, it is found that most of the works (sometimes even upto 100 per cent) are being sublet or sub-contracted to small petty contractors who are not at all capable to execute such projects and ensure the quality of construction Bihar DGP D P Ojha: ‘‘The criminalisation of contractors is an unfortunate but true fact...Most of the contracts go to the mafia. I am shocked to hear how an honest man died. I will take personal interest and ensure that we book the culprits.’’ PMO spokesman: ‘‘Numerous letters come in everyday and it is very difficult to trace each and every letter. If you have a copy and send it to me, I can then find out.’’ Dubey’s Boss Union Minister B C Khanduri: ‘‘I’m not aware of the letter.’’ When told that Dubey’s letter shows his initials, he said: ‘‘I can’t recall it. The NHAI chairman has been asked to compile all letters.’’ Asked why Dubey’s request for secrecy was ignored, Khanduri said: ‘‘It’s neither possible nor appropriate for me to comment. I have talked to his brother and the Bihar Chief Minister.’’ Law to protect Whistleblower The Whistleblowers Protection bill has been passed by the Union Cabinet on August 9, 2010. The bill is officially known as the Public Interest Disclosure and Protection to Persons Making the Disclosure Bill, 2010. It will protect the whistleblowers from any discrimination or victimization in their workplace. It provides for concealing the identity of a citizen who discloses information about the misuse of power and money. Those who reveal the identity of the whistleblower will be held liable and penalized, by the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC). The offenders will be liable for imprisonment up to 3 years and a fine up to Rs.50, 000. There will be penalization in case of delays in response, under the Right to Information Act. A fine of Rs.250 will be imposed for every day of delay beyond the set deadline. There will be penalization for officials who try to mislead the CVC. The bill provides for addressing complaints against public sector employees and employees of the Central and the State Government. The bill also ensures the honest government officials are not harassed in anyway but those individuals who file false complaints and charges will be liable for imprisonment up to 2 years and fine up to Rs.30, 000. Manjunath Shanmugham, an IIM graduate and a sales manager of the IOC, was murdered on Nov 19, 2005 for exposing the racket of adulteration of petrol and the mafia behind it. Puducherry Madras High Court Justice R Reghupathy’s claim that a Union Minister tried to pressure him in a case involving alleged forgery of mark sheets in an MBBS exam has given fresh lease of life to a murder case that lies at the heart of the scandal.The man who blew the lid off the mark sheet forgery racket in Pondicherry University was found murdered on May 20, 2008. Puducherry Madras High Court Justice R Reghupathy’s claim that a Union Minister tried to pressure him in a case involving alleged forgery of mark sheets in an MBBS exam has given fresh lease of life to a murder case that lies at the heart of the scandal. The man who blew the lid off the mark sheet forgery racket in Pondicherry University was found murdered on May 20, 2008. Mumbai: In a shocking incident, Additional District Collector of Nashik, Yashwant Sonawane, was burnt alive on 25th january’11 for cracking down on the oil mafia operating in the vicinity of Panewadi oil depot near Manmad town, 75 kilometres from the district headquarters. Identity whistle blowing whistle should be kept secret Proper security should be asked and ensured Smart and intelligent steps are required to change the system It should be with as much specific factual information possible (report what you know, but don’t investigate—leave that to the experts!) If you are still depressed and perplexed, gaze at the face of young Dubey for a while. You will be driven to do “something”. And then Dubey will no longer be ‘dead’. .
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