Payoff: Top Manipuri Role Models
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| Image: Anonymous ART of Revolution |
This post is a news collection of the second case on corruption, which has been institutionalised, much to the delight of the many souls who would not mind selling off their husbands and wives to get extra freebies. It is beyond comprehension, however, what is more intolerable is the conduct of the people, especially those who are in the higher echelons of the government departments, even after they are charged for graft. A couple of months ago, a director of the premier Regional Institute of Medical Science or RIMS by the name of one Dr Sinam Sekharjit was demoted on bribery and other charges but he clung to his chair as if the post was his birth right.
Then, in the funniest act that can give Russell Peters and his co. a run for their money, Sekharjit’s wife organised a street demonstration. So, consider the other kings and queens of their own kingdoms, who are still looting and laughing all the way to their banks, while nobody raises a finger because they are also the leading figures of the empire. You know what this type of people is called?
When we consider the trend in our vicinity, it is no surprise how and why these people survive in our world. Read And the Most Prestigious Award Goes to. Not only the natives, but people who are posted here, have been consumed by the disease. Don’t be surprised to find that it is not the bureaucrats as the case always tends to be, but rather the patriots who can kill and die in the name of the ill-defined country.
Read about the Operation Hilltop: an undercover sting operation and exposé published by the Tehelka magazine in September 2014. The investigation was initiated by a former jawan-turned-contractor, CK Matthew, who recorded over a dozen military and accounts officials on hidden cameras. The 15-minute video captured 13 personnel, ranging from Lieutenant Colonels to administrative staff, demanding or accepting cuts/commissions.
Here’s a brief breakdown that can be used as a template by future doctors, directors and government officials:
• Dr Sekharjit paid ₹4 crores to the personal assistant of the then Union health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad for his appointment as RIMS director
• Dr Sekharjit’s wife Dr Damayanti wrote a letter to the former BJP state president Th Chaoba demanding the refund of ₹1 crore which was taken by the president to forestall any impeachment move against Sekharjit
• Sekharjit recruited 121 nurses against 71 sanctioned and advertised posts. The bribe fee was said to have hovered around ₹15 lakh each for the first 71 and ₹25 lakh apiece for the remaining 40. And although he tried to get an ex post facto sanction for the 40 seats from the executive council, he failed but they continue to be on the rolls and received salaries till date.
• He also decreased the retirement age of the heads of departments from 65 to 62 years to enable his wife to head the department of anatomy.
• When the nursing college was established, he appointed her (his wife Damayanti) principal and when protests arose he made her the advisor of the college, overriding the principal.
• Sekharjit and his family treated 47 men and women hired as daily wage workers who were being paid a paltry ₹3,000 a month. The women were utilised by his wife as domestic help and have not been paid for the last five months while their salaries had already been withdrawn. And often it was his wife, referred to as “Madam”, who would dole out their salaries at her residence — not in cash but in the form of Amway products for which she is today a platinum card holder agent.
Original source
Yambem Laba reports on the goings-on at the RIMS, Imphal, which resulted in the bombshell dropped by the centre: Beyond the Oath, The Statesman
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| (L) N Bijoy (R) RK Ranjan Image: Tehelka |
A Shot in the Leg for Corruption?
by Nitin A. Gokhale, Tehelka, 1 Jan 2005
Less than two months ago, N. Bijoy Singh was sharing the platform with the Prime Minister. Today the vice-chancellor of Manipur University is lying in hospital, his left knee cap shot to smithereens by an outlawed outfit which has accused him of favouritism in appointing an employee. RK Ranjan Singh, the registrar of the varsity that was upgraded to a Central University by the pm in November, has suffered a similar fate. The two were abducted at gunpoint on Monday by militants of the Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup (KYKL) from the outskirts of Imphal. The KYKL then took a team of journalists to an undisclosed location and paraded the officials, who then confessed to their crime. Later, Singh and Ranjan were “punished” with shots in their legs. “The two were punished as part of our special operation to cleanse the education system of corruption,” a KYKL leader said.
Incidents and Statements Involving Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup: 2000–2012 on Corruption in the Government Education Institutes and Departments
South Asia Terrorism Portal / Institute for Conflict Management
May 2008 An education department official, Y Joykumar, is shot at and wounded by militants for his alleged involvement in corrupt practices. He was abducted from near his residence at Thongju area in the Imphal East district. The KYKL claimed responsibility for the attack.
September 2007 An unnamed official of the State Education department is shot at and wounded by the KYKL militants at an unspecified place in the Bishnupur district. He was attacked for his alleged involvement in fake appointment of teachers and corruption. The outfit had also asked the official to take voluntary retirement and return the misappropriated amount.
August 2007 Unidentified KYKL cadres shot at and injured a civilian, Phurailatpam Nandakumar, joint secretary of the Board of Secondary Education, who is currently under suspension in several irregularities, at Mayang Imphal Konchak in the Imphal West district. Nandakumar was abducted by unidentified persons two days back.
October 2006 Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup (KYKL) warned an officer of the State Education Department, S Geeta, of ‘capital punishment’ in case of her failure to ‘surrender’ to the outfit within seven days, S Geeta along with another official, S.Shamu President of AMESTA, are allegedly involved in siphoning off huge amount of funds meant for mid-day meal scheme.
December 2005 Deputy Inspector in the Education Department of Imphal East district, Sanasam Biren Singh, is paraded and shot at his left calf as ‘punishment for alleged corruption’ by the KYKL under its anti-corruption programme Operation New Kangleipak.
June 2005 A senior accountant and an official of the Manipur education department are kneecapped by the KYKL at an unspecified place. Both the persons have earlier been ‘charged of’ siphoning Rupees 20 lakhs each from the departmental funds and are ‘set free’ by the outfit after shooting them on their legs.
May 2005 Three Education Department officials are kneecapped by the outlawed KYKL cadres at an unspecified place in the Churachandpur district accusing them of corruption of Manipur. According to reports, the three officials who had surrendered to the outfit earlier were paraded before a media team and then shot in their legs. Further, 49 teachers, allegedly appointed through corrupt means, were also paraded by the outfit and asked not to serve in the Education Department in future.
February 2005 KYKL has paraded two zonal education officers, Athokpam Shamu and Moirangthem Sanatombi Singh, before the media and pronounced them ‘guilty of corruption’. Both are asked by the outfit to resign from their posts.
Manipur CM is Corrupt: WikiLeaks
By Sanjib Kr Baruah, Hindustan Times 21 March 2011
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| Image: http://internet.wonderhowto.com |
In a September 2006 confidential cable released by WikiLeaks, Henry Jardine, principal officer, US consulate general in Kolkata, underscored the corrupt state of affairs in Manipur.
The US official, reporting that rampant corruption was complicating the effort to control rising violence in the state, also mentioned that chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh was known as “Mr. Ten Percent”, for the amount of money that he takes from contracts and government projects.
The report said that officials and private individuals agreed that many key government officers and politicians receive kick-backs and skim-off money from government funds. Even the protocol officer facilitating Jardine’s trip had said that the government was incapable of handling the situation as all the officials were more interested in their own enrichment.
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| CM Okram Ibobi: So you think I care about your news report? Image: manipuronline.com |
The US confidential cable said that in December 2005, chief of Army Staff J.J. Singh reportedly told the media that chief minister Singh had contributed Rs. 15 million to insurgent groups in the state.
Manipur State Youth Congress leader L. Tilottama was also quoted speaking in “hypothetical” terms about politicians’ motivations to protect insurgents, “If I take Rs. 1 crore from a businessman building a flyover, and the insurgents get a share, I want to keep quiet about it.”
READ MORE ON THE TOPIC
» Making Sense of Corruption In Manipur by Angomcha Bimol Akoijam, Kangla Online
» Corruption: Nexus of Politicians, Big Contractors, Suppliers, Businessmen and Bureaucrats by Dhanabir Laishram, Manipur Times
» Corruption in Manipur : Some Reflection by Pamreihor Khashimwo, The Sangai Express/Epao.net
» Full text: Irom Sharmila’s Heartfelt Letter to Anna Hazare IBN Live
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| The Sangai Express, 29 Jan 2015 |
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