Surendra Kishore
Apart from others, half a dozen IAS officers were also accused in the famous fodder scam of Bihar. He also got punished. He suffered immensely both in prison and outside the jail. His world changed. Despite this, corruption in the administration did not decrease. Yes, big and unique scams like fodder scam are no longer happening. “My life is dark.” It was said that the commissioner level IAS officer was K. Arumugam said.
That was many years ago. He had reached the Ranchi court from his home state Tamil Nadu in connection with the hearing of the case related to the fodder scam. Arumugam, who was the secretary of the Animal Husbandry Department of the Bihar government, was imprisoned for three years in 2013 in the fodder scam. He was in jail for two and a half years. Amidst the lack of money and neglect, he left this world a few years ago with the dream of becoming the Chief Secretary.
The other IAS officers who were convicted are Phoolchand Singh, Beck Julius, Mahesh Prasad, SN Dubey and Sajal Chakraborty. Even now many politicians, officers, suppliers, themselves and their families, who are in jail in this scam, are facing hardship, lack of money and neglect. Still it is surprising that corruption is not decreasing in Bihar or rather in the whole country.
Sometimes the creation scam is coming to the fore and sometimes the Muzaffarpur Asra Griha disgusting scandal. Neither corruption is stopping in the Nal Jal Yojana nor is the commission in MP-MLA fund being stopped. The question is, from where are the scamsters getting this power to continue their business? Is it from the leaders, the officers or is the whole system responsible for this?
In this background, once again the discussion of the famous fodder scam of Bihar is present. Because recently in another case, Lalu Prasad and others have been convicted. Despite this, other IAS officers of the country have also been going to jail in later years in other cases as well. That is, many people are not ready to take any lesson.
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Some of the people who are currently in jail in connection with the fodder scam are ill. Some of them are also victims of neglect from all sides. The families of some others were scattered. Some of the accused passed away untimely. Some committed suicide. The son of the main accused in the scam died untimely as he could not stand the investigation by the investigating agency. The main accused also passed away untimely in the mourning of the son. The marriages of the families of many accused and convicts broke down. Families scattered. Friends started cutting.
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The illegitimately earned money ended in the court affair. In this the story of IAS officer Arumugam was painful. Before his death, he had said that “my world changed as soon as I was named in the fodder scam.” Arumugam was sentenced to three years in prison. He was later released on bail. Arumugam had told that due to long imprisonment, cataract operation could not be done in time. As a result, I lost one eye.
Due to lack of maintenance, my personal car kept rotten. I had nowhere to put it. Had to sell for scrap. My suspension did not lift even after coming out of jail. All this happened because of the malice of some senior officers who did not want me to be the Chief Secretary. After retiring, I often had to come to Ranchi from Tamil Nadu to hear the case. Lived in a small room in Ranchi, met a friend of mine. Used to eat food in the dhaba. Sometimes Chuda used to eat milk and get the job done. Cases took away both money and peace. There was darkness in my life.
Remember that some IAS officers including former Chief Minister Lalu Prasad and Dr Jagannath Mishra have also been punished. His world has changed too. Politicians are also used to jail visits in connection with such political movements. But the dreams of an IAS are something else. There is a strange aura around him. Arumugam himself was also dreaming of becoming the Chief Secretary. But his mistakes did not leave him anywhere.
In view of the sufferings of the fodder scamsters, it was earlier believed that now someone will think a thousand times before withdrawing money from the government treasury in a wrong way. But not. A few years back, news came from Bhagalpur that billions of rupees had been diverted from the government treasury there. It is alleged that under the protection of influential politicians-officers, the scam which is known as Srijan scam took place. CBI is also probing him. A large number of people have been arrested. They are still happening.
An important question arises from such incidents. The question is whether the new scammers are not even afraid of the previous punishments that are being given to the high-ranking accused of the previous scams? Why is this happening after all?
(The writer is a senior journalist and political affairs expert)
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