Some of my husband's efforts made in public interest

 

  1. As early as in 1990 my husband Sri.M.N.Vijayakumar,IAS,   set up the first ever computerized information booth in the country and probably in the world, to give information to the public and this is what the then Development Commissioner, Sri. N.P.Singh IAS, wrote in his letter No: APC/-3/92-93 dated 7/4/1992.:

Thank you for your Do No.DZP.ADMR.CR.15, 91-92 dated 31/3/92  with which you have sent a very low cost mini bio gas plant designed by you for popularization in the villages together with the details of a project for making information on developmental works available to the public through Public Computer Booths.  I am happy to go through the details sent by you and would like to congratulate you for your initiative and innovativeness in this regard.

       This should be contrasted with the DPAR not even allowing him to launch an innovative system to help public and expose corruption  Instead of  being encouraged he has been severely punished for his innovative efforts to help the common man.

 

B.     In a paper presented by my husband Sri.M.N.Vijayakumar, IAS on Open Administration, transparency  at ASCI, Hyderabad, in February 1993, this is what my husband had written when even most developed countries were not talking about the Right to Information at that point of time. This is what he actually implemented when he was Regional Commissioner, Bangalore and he went one step ahead to make available files through internet to enable citizens to view the files sitting in their house and this shocked the corrupt who got him transferred.

    1. Procedures used in the office should be clear not only to officials working in the office but also to any literate common man.
    2. If any relaxation has been made in following the procedure it should be made known to all and not just a few who deal with the subject in the office.
    3. It should be possible to know the reasons for delay if any.
    4. It should be possible to know any out of turn attending to of files.
    5. It should be possible to give information about any file without causing any damage or tampering of records.
    6. It should be possible to get the above at one place without having to move from office to office or within office from pillar to pillar.
    7. It should be possible to receive grievances or enquiries pertaining to any department and in case a person feels that there is inordinate delay in communicating the same to the concerned department and he should know in turn further developments at one place.
    8. Information of general interest should be available to any common man, any academic, any governmental or non-governmental organization…..

….Most of the ideas given in this article have been put to practice by the author of this article when he was the Administrator of Dharwad Jilla Parshat in Karnataka. Even drivers and peons were trained to operate the menu driven information system to assist the public.

 

 

C.    In 1994, when he was Deputy Commissioner, Chitradurga, he made anti-corruption a part of the total literacy programme.

 

D.  That my husband Sri.M.N.Vijayakumar, IAS does not stop at reporting corrupt practices is amply made clear from the preface to a handbook to the Citizens prepared by the Public Affairs Centre in March 1999, an extract of which I am giving below. These can also be verified from the proceedings of the Secretaries meeting chaired by the Chief secretary which are available with the Government itself:

The genesis of this Guide can be traced to the suggestions made by Mr.M.N.Vijayakumar, IAS, the then Secretary of the Hyderabad-Karnataka Development  Board, to improve the technical monitoring of public works to ensure both quality and cost efficiency.  This led to a series of discussions within government during which the need for a Guide listing out practical methods of quality control to be used by supervising and controlling officers became apparent.

        Unfortunately, a similar repeated request made to the Chief Secretary during the last six months to curb corrupt practices resulted in six transfers in six months and harassment and humiliation.

 

E.     As a part of the Reform process, DPAR (Administrative Reforms) issued a circular in 1999 based on the work done by my husband Sri.M.N.Vijayakumar, IAS in 1987 to improve transparency, and this formed the back bone of computerization in all Government Departments and Municipalities and Public Sector undertakings in the State. It may not be out of place to mention the facts that he developed the first proto of Kannada text to Speech software and demonstrated it in the Computer Society of India in April 1998 and in the secretaries meeting chaired by the Chief secretary . Professor D.K. Subramanian and Emeritus Professor Dr. Rajaraman and other scientist and professors know about the path breaking work done by my husband in the computerization of the Government between April 1998 and October 1999.  (What is unfortunate is that even after the lapse of 9 years Government has not bothered about his works (Kannada text to speech software, Kannada to English translation software, Kannada OCR when no other person has done similar work then). Any other person would have sought lot of publicity. In fact, one IIM professor was insisting that my husband’s efforts which were very unique should be shown on TV and he was ready to make arrangements. My husband’s focus was on the technical work (which no administrator does) and not on getting publicity. All these are available in his ACRs .But these facts have been continuously suppressed by the DPAR in the last six months while giving him posting just because my husband shows zero tolerance to corrupt practices of any person.

 

F.      In spite of a very short stay as IGR, my husband Sri.M.N.Vijayakumar, IAS was able to initiate affixing photographs of the parties at the time of registering documents.  Its impact on the benami properties will be told during the hearing. This must also have hastened his transfer before launching the system.  Regarding the Computerization of Stamp and Registration department the Finance Commission headed by Sri Veerappa Moily had written enough about my husband’s innovative use of computers.

 

G.       My husband Sri.M.N.Vijayakumar, IAS had reported in 2005 about the serious corrupt practices running in to a few hundred crores of rupees. I do not have to elaborate much as the present Chief Information Commissioner has seen my husband’s report himself when he was the Chief Secretary and also warned my husband to be careful as the people against whom my husband complained do not hesitate to go to any extent.

 

H.     My husband Sri.M.N.Vijayakumar’s innovative ideas of involving the citizens by giving useful details before and during execution of works through leaflets which was not allowed to be extended to the entire state, in spite of repeated requests to the Chief Secretary, shows the determination of the Chief Secretary to retain and nurture corrupt practices. Even the website was closed after his transfer, and he got it working again when he was allowed to work as Regional Commissioner, Bangalore for just 20 days. The web site address is http://202.138.101.166/bangaloreurban/ and all the links were operational at the time of filing this appeal.  This saved crores of rupees to the government while significantly improving the quality of work. This was done while he was Secretary-in-charge of Bangalore Urban District.

 

I.     To help the poor people to avoid visiting offices again and again to know about the action taken on their grievances, my husband Sri.M.N.Vijayakumar, IAS developed a totally innovative system which did not require the person to be physically present but still could get details about his case and within a specified timeframe. This was done while he was Secretary in charge of Bangalore Urban District. (vide Bangalore Urban DC’s Office letter No; PGC:DC:CR:52:2006-07 dated 2/6/06)  The petitioners were specifically encouraged to give details about corruption in a confidential way. The prescribed printed formats should be available and in use even today in the Bangalore Urban District.

 

J.        My husband Sri.M.N.Vijayakumar’s reporting to the Chief Secretary in 2006 about the serious corrupt practices in various public Sector undertakings running into crores of rupees and insisting repeatedly (more than ten times in the last six months) the Chief secretary to give him time to discuss them in the presence of experts resulted in my husband’s transfer six times in the last six months. The warning issued by DPAR to my husband can only be interpreted that either my husband should become corrupt or close his eyes to corruption if at all he has to be given a “good posting” One officer who wants to head the BDA is going around telling his subordinates that he has mobilized half the money running into crores of rupees. Money must have been mobilized in his present posting using fraudulent means only. (PP). In fact one IAS officer even told him the plans of the Government to bring my husband to the “main stream”. But my husband refused to join the “main stream” and even asked that IAS officer not to go in that path as it destroys the very democracy which they are expected to protect and asked him in writing to part with the tons of information on corruption which that officer has kept as perk and help him fight corrupt practices.  My husband sent clear signals in writing to the Chief Secretary and the other IAS officer that he would continue to fight corruption and join the “mainstream”. His transfer must have become inevitable.  This clearly indicated that my husband would have received help if only he had become corrupt or turned a blind eye to corruption. . Of course things became totally different when my husband came out with an innovative idea of giving information to the public using the right to information Act. Details are available at http://bngregcommr.freespaces.com/   All the Circulars issued by my husband Sri.M.N.Vijayakumar, IAS, to curb corruption and expose the corrupt and protect the honest are also available at the website. This threatened the corrupt so much that he was transferred out as Regional Commissioner even before he could launch the System and in spite of his request to allow him to work for just two days more; he was relieved by asking a very junior officer to assume charge against Rules by the DPAR.  Comments of the visitors speak more about its effectiveness in curbing corruption. This is what the Indian Express (on 12/3/07) wrote about the Circulars: Sweden, it is said, is the first country in the world to allow members of Public to access government records as a routine. Karnataka, is perhaps the first state to throw open government files and records for public inspection….Any complaints related to corruption and undue delay and harassment by officials can be registered over phone (Phone number: 080 22109680)A circular from Regional Commissioner, Bangalore says in all offices in the districts of Bangalore Region will have to keep open records and files for public inspection…A whistle Blower Law may be still in the making , but the regional Commissioner Bangalore has gone ahead…   The “reward’ for introducing a system to help the citizens and particularly poor was that he was posted to a closed company with no staff, no office, no phone, no salary, no vehicle etc so that he could be silenced physically at the opportune time. Even though this has been brought to the notice of the Chief Secretary 35 days back, no action has been taken by him till now.

 

K.     On the other hand for showing absolute integrity as required by his AIS Rules my husband Sri.M.N.Vijayakumar, IAS has been transferred six times in the last six months, denied leave, sanctioned leave for a period when he worked, has not been paid salary for the last five months till today, sent him on deputation to a closed company not meant for an officer of his grade against guidelines, etc.  As my husband’s main purpose is to fight corruption against all odds continuing in service, he will be approaching Competent Authorities to enable him to work with absolute integrity (which he has been doing all through his life)as demanded by his Service Rules. But he wants to wait and see to which level the DPAR is going to stoop to protect the corrupt so that public can know and demand for changes.  In fact, my husband had written in Annual Confidential Report that one of his objectives is to introduce systems to prevent corrupt practices which he has been continuously pursuing.