"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."
- Edmund Burke
The Manjunath Shanmugam Integrity Award
The Award was instituted on November 19th 2006 - Manjunath's first death anniversary - to recognize and honour those upholding values of truth and honesty. It carries a citation and a cash prize of Rs. One Lakh.
Nomination forms for the Integrity Award 2009 can be downloaded from 1st September 2008; you can also mail us at manjunathtrust@gmail.com, and we will email you the form.
ELIGIBILITY
The award will be presented to an Indian person(s) or organization who have taken the initiative to report and rectify corrupt practices in public and corporate life.
CRITERIA
The assessment is based on
- Gravity of the situation - impact on society
- Corrective action undertaken, not only reporting of the situation
- The extent of difficulty faced by the nominee in correcting the situation
JURY
The distinguished jurors, drawn from the corporate sector as well as public life, comprise :
- S. Gopalakrishnan, CEO and MD,Infosys Technologies. Mr. Gopalakrishnan is also on the Advisory Board of the Trust.
- Rama Bijapurkar, Strategy Consultant, and Independent Director on the boards of Infosys Technologies, CRISIL, UTI Bank, Godrej Consumer Products, Entertainment Network (India) Ltd. and Give Foundation.
- Shekhar Gupta, CEO, Indian Express Group, Editor-in-Chief of The Indian Express, host of ‘Walk the Talk’ on NDTV 24x7, author of the weekly column ‘National Interest’.
For details on the Integrity Awards for 2007 and 2008, please read below:
THE SECOND MANJUNATH SHANMUGAM INTEGRITY AWARD, MARCH 2008
5.30 - 6.30 p.m., Seminar Hall, IIT Delhi
7 p.m, senior banker: “For the first time at a function, I had tears in my eyes. My wife and I want to help in whatever way we can.”
It was an immensely moving, genuine and from-the-heart function. The attendance was small, about 90 people. There were three final short-listed nominees. One – a serving IAS officer – could not attend, as he was denied permission by the Karnataka State Government. The other two were simply dressed, spoke in Hindi, shorn of all polish; and commanded immediate respect and admiration from all in the room.
Akhil Gogoi, 31. General Secretary, Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti, Golaghat, Assam.
His enthusiasm overflowed, lit up his face, touched everybody, and took them along. In his Assamese-accented Hindi, he told his story. How he and his colleagues worked to uncover misuse of funds in various developmental schemes such as Indira Awas Yojana, Sampoorna Gramin Rozgar Yojana, Individual Benefit scheme, and reported it in the media and to the Chief Minister. As a result, corrupt officials were arrested, and houses supposed to have been built were actually built! But he was attacked and a case filed against him.
Undeterred, KMSS are working to uncover irregularities in the Public Distribution System, to convince officials to implement schemes in the right direction, spreading awareness on the use of the Right To Information (RTI) Act . “Hum paanch paanch rupai ikkhatta karke kaam chalate hain” (“We gather five rupee contributions and carry on our work”).
Chetan Ram, Founder, Urmul Jyoti Sansthan, Bikaner, Rajasthan.
He is in his late forties; a man of immense dignity and presence. Qualifying as a civil engineer, he has been working in healthcare, rural development, and public advocacy. It was an experience hearing him talk, as quietly, with conviction, he spoke about how, in Nokha district, their group has worked to increase public awareness in development schemes, and used the RTI Act to expose cheating and cases of fraud in public works and development projects; they organize mass action dharnas; uniquely, in cases of bribery, activists approach the person who took bribe and coerce them into returning the bribe.
In the last few years they have succeeded in Rs. 30 lakh of bribes being returned in cash (with receipts given!!)
Chetan Ram has faced vicious physical assaults & dragged to court in false cases. Now, resistance has declined; development projects are more effective & success stories are part of the local folklore.
M.N Vijayakumar, is an Administrator of Command Area Development Authority (CADA), Belgaum, Karnataka. He could not be present, denied permission by the State Government. He has worked to achieve transparency in various postings he has been in - opening files for public inspection, instituting public grievance systems, and forming ‘Pragati Belagavi’, an organization to fight corruption.
The Award went to Akhil Gogoi, ‘For extraordinary integrity in improving the system in the unusually difficult state of Assam’.
Citation below; he received a cheque of Rs. One lakh. The Trust also honoured Mr. Chetan Ram and Mr. Vijayakumar with a silver plaque: ‘Our Source of Inspiration’ (‘Prerna ka Sroth’). MST also donated Rs. 25,000 to Urmul Jyoti Sansthan.
ICOMO Advertising Mumbai, made a beautiful film clip to be played at the event. See it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcWyXfdfOpQ)
Indian Express story here
And finally, when we sent a message of thanks to Dr. Kiran Bedi, here is her response:
“It was a personal honour for me too to be present there. I must say the nominees were outstanding. And I am glad to see that such events provide the essential visibility to their struggles.”
THE FIRST MANJUNATH SHANMUGAM INTEGRITY AWARD, MARCH 2007
Nominations were recieved from across the country, and five nominees were short-listed for the jury. The nominees' profiles are below.
The first Manjunath Shanmugam Integrity Award was presented on Saturday 24 March to Prof. R.P Singh, Vice-Chancellor, Lucknow University, for his courageous work in implementing Lyngdoh Committee recommendations and cleaning up Lucknow University , taking on the might of the entire state assembly.It was presented by by N.R Narayana Murthy at IIM Bangalore; Mr. Murthy made an inspiring speech on this occasion, which is uploaded on youtube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43vhEooW1Ac)
The event also honoured Mr. Shanmugam, Manjunath’s father and Vinay Misra, a close friend and batchmate of Satyendra Dubey , representative of the Dubey family.
Kestone Event Management (www.kestone.in), run by an IIMB alumnus,worked pro-bono and tirelessly for flawless execution. They deserve full credit for this.
Nominations Received
We are proud to present the extraordinary profiles of the five short listed nominees:
1. Mr. Ajit Kumar, Chief Finance Manager, ITI Limited. (A Government of India Undertaking), New Delhi
- The Situation : Corruption rampant in PSUs
- Improper awarding of contracts without tendering process
- Unnecessary outsourcing of lucrative projects
- Misuse of company resources and benefits by employees, bureaucrats and politicians
- Unnecessary appointment of consultancy firms at the behest of political leaders.
Action Taken:
Mr. Ajit Kumar stopped awarding of contracts without competitive bidding; he ensured that projects are completed in- house if the company has know how to execute them efficiently. He has enforced regulations that preclude misuse of benefits by employees, and ensured accountability by implementing the profit centre approach. He revived Credit and Thrift society and recovered Rs. 4 lakhs, and started the Society for Development and Justice, an NGO, in 2004 with Ex-IAS officers. He has faced repeated threats of transfers out of Delhi; threats of physical harm to him and his family and ostracism within the company. However, he has gone beyond his responsibility to correct any malaise that he comes across.
2. Mr. S.K Nagarwal. Deputy Chief Engineer, (Construction) North-Western Railway,Ajmer
- The Situation : Gross Irregularities in Railway Project
- Gross irregularities in the railway project of Eklakhi-Balurghat New B.G. line at various levels
- Officials colluded with contractors resulting in an increase in the cost of the project and a compromise in the quality of materials used, posing serious safety hazards
Action Taken:
Mr. Nagarwal exposed these irregularities by lodging complaints with Advisor/Vigilance, Railway Board, giving full details . CVC ignored his request for anonymity; Mr. Nagarwal and his family received threats both from higher authorities and contractors He was transferred to Katihar, and then to Guwahati where he received information regarding a plan to eliminate him. He finally received security from the state government in 2004. In future, Mr. Nagarwal is prepared to take the case to Supreme court from Guwahati High Court.
3. Mr. Pankaj Khanna, Sales Officer, Hindustan Petroleum Company Limited (HPCL), Meerut
- The Situation : Malpractices at HPCL Bareilly and Meerut
- Floating of short tenders to particular contractors after completion of work
- Purchase orders placed to chosen contractors on single quotation basis
- Construction activities completed without supervision
- Fabrication of service tanks with inferior quality steel
Action Taken:
Mr. Khanna made verbal and then written complaints to his superiors and the HPCL management. He addressed the Dept. of Public Grievances, Govt. of India in Dec. 2003; approached the CVC (as a whistle-blower) and the Cabinet secretariat. He forwarded a copy of all his letters to CMD, HPCL. There was no response. He had to suffer four transfers in the past three years; his promotion has since been held up; he was not allowed to work from August 2004 and under a charge of ‘unauthorized absenteeism’; his salary has been stopped since May 2005. He wants to initiate a forum for whistle-blowers with the award money.
4.Prof. R.P. Singh, Vice Chancellor, Lucknow University
- The Situation : Criminalisation and Corruption of University System
- Rampant criminalisation of Lucknow University
- Political leaders using it to protect criminals
- Criminals using it to further political career
- Situation copied across multiple universities
- Affecting lives of tens of thousands of students; and political/social system as a whole
Action Taken:
The Lyngdoh committee recommendations were a set back for elections where money and muscle power dominate. Prof. R.P Singh started implementation of the recommendations of the Lyngdoh committee with regard to student elections at Lucknow university. This initiative led to large-scale hooliganism by the so called “student leaders”. They attacked parked cars, hurled bombs and fired shots to intimidate the faculty. Even the district administration pressurized Prof. Singh to relax the norms recommended in the Lyngdoh report. On December 8, 2006, moratorium was declared and the university closed sine die. Prof. Singh submitted list of “student leaders” who have criminal cases against them. 77 students were expelled. Disregarding immense threat to personal safety, Prof. Singh continues the fight against corruption of education. Other universities have been motivated by his example.
5.Urmul Jyoti Sansthan/Mr. Chetan Ram, Bikaner, Rajasthan Fields of work: Healthcare, Rural development, Public advocacy
- The Situation : Corruption in Government development projects
- State govt launched many developmental schemes
- But influential people corner benefits due to ignorance & simplicity of people.
- Government employees demand bribes for even legitimate work
- Bungle development projects for personal gain
Action Taken:
The UJS formed on 13 Feb 1996, has a team of committed activists - 450 men & women from different villages- under the banner ‘Jagruk Nagrik Manch’. They have worked to increase public awareness in development schemes, and used the RTI Act to expose cheating and cases of fraud in public works and development projects; they organize mass action dharnas; uniquely, in cases of bribery, activists approach the person who took bribe and coerce them into returning the bribe. They initially faced problems but later government servants started returning bribes! Activists interact with government officials & people to collect and disseminate information. They have been lathi-charged, with political, social and economic pressures brought to bear; Chetan Ram has faced vicious physical assaults & dragged to court in false cases. Now, resistance has declined; Development projects more effective & success stories part of the local folklore
These are role models for the country. We are proud to have them as the nominees for the first Manjunath Shanmugam Integrity Award, and wish them all success in their endeavour.