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About Arun Bhatia

Arun Bhatia, former IAS officer, sitting in his office chair

Working in the government educated me – revealed an India behind the curtain – its grime, corruption and poverty. The entire three decades were a struggle to do what one was being paid for – an unequal battle against selfish and pompous bureaucrats and politicians installed by us.

Seven years in the United Nations, evaluating and managing development projects in various countries, were a respite for a spirit continuously at war. If this period is excluded I was gifted with 24 transfers in about as many years in service in India.

In 2004 I fought the Pune parliamentary election as an independent candidate not supported by any political party and received 60,000 votes and was defeated by a politician facing a criminal investigation for corruption.

He supported Aam Aadmi Party in its early days as seen in TV panel discussions. Now does not support it.

But there was a good side too. The rocky journey gave us wonderful friendships that never faltered and are with us today. These would never have come our way if the conflict had been abandoned.

The appeal for a better India will be executed by those amongst the young, sensitive to poverty, who will spend some minutes in their day in thinking and asking for reform.

When this happens we will become the greatest of all nations. The world respects guns because there is no choice. But the same world says empty bellies with big guns don't define a modern state.


Note: The interviewer speaks in Marathi. Arun Bhatia responds in Hindi.

80% CORRUPTION IN THE IAS (INDIAN ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICE)

The nightmare of honest officers imprisoned in a corrupt system

In this interview Bhatia estimates corruption within the IAS to be as high as 80%.

Marathi / Hindi Interview

Media

Book on corruption, governance, poverty, elections, bureaucracy and essential reforms for the country.

Soon being completed is a book on poverty, corruption and the crumbling structure of governance. And the reforms necessary to give us a better life. It is an angry pen that strides across the pages sketching the disappearance of checks on rulers, the inaccessible courts, the dirty elections that keep good Indians away from politics, the unacknowledged but massive corruption (80 %) in the IAS (Indian Administrative Service), the cheating done by the system – in denying malnutrition child deaths, in redefining poverty to camouflage the real figures, in mocking the Right to Information Act, in refusing to introduce physical audit, in keeping institutions (Lok Pal, Commissions for Human Rights etc,) unarmed to check government malfunction etc. (The fate of more than 1000 applications under the Right to Information Act has been analysed.)

Contact Information

Email: bpdbhatia@hotmail.com

Know Me - Arun Bhatia

About Arun Bhatia

Arun Bhatia, former IAS officer

This bio-data is a three decade long story of attempting to enforce honesty in a corrupt third world bureaucracy. Almost from the moment of joining service (IAS) it became clear that the real enemy was the corrupt political establishment in India.

I paid the price of denial of promotion, frequent transfers (26 transfers in as many years of service in India), numerous charges and enquiries, bad assessment reports, ridicule by peers, seniors and subordinates, lack of support when giant offenders like Glaxo or senior officers and politicians were prosecuted by me, ugly threats from the Bombay land mafia and so on.

But there was another side also. I made friends with good people outside the system who stood by me and was able to help those being oppressed by corrupt officials. Awareness about corruption was enhanced, many were punished. Unfortunately, many were protected. When things became too hot with Chief Ministers gunning for me I managed to get a break by being selected by the United Nations for assignments.

Some might say that this picture is too black. But if we agree that generally the country is corrupt and mismanaged then it won't do to say that only the IAS is honest. More accurate it is to say that the top echelons lead and facilitate the corruption.

In 2004 I contested the parliamentary election as an independent candidate from Pune and received over 60,000 votes without any infrastructure or organisational support and without adequate time. This time things will be different.

Honest Indians will win this country back.

Education

B.A. History (Honors) – St. Stephen's College, Delhi University, India

M.A. History, Economic History and Political Thought – Peterhouse, Cambridge University, England

Training in Development Economics, Law, Public Administration, Land Reforms etc. – National Academy of Administration, Mussourie, India

Training for Public Administration in a Welfare State – Administrative Staff College, Bombay, India

Training in Community Development and Decentralized Planning – National Institute of Community Development, Hyderabad, India

Training in Management Skills (1994) – UNOPS (United Nations Office for Project Services), Thailand

Publications

Some of the reports prepared during the tenure as the Commissioner, Tribal Research and Training Institute, Maharashtra, in 2002, were –

  • Resettlement of Persons Displaced by Irrigation Projects
  • Schemes for Income Generation and Distribution of Agricultural Inputs
  • The Truth about Malnutrition Child Deaths
  • Mismanagement in residential schools financed by the government and run by NGOs (many with political linkages)
  • The extent of corruption in development schemes (based upon a physical audit)

Book - Fight Against Corruption

About the Book

Soon being completed is a book on poverty, corruption and the crumbling structure of governance. And the reforms necessary to give us a better life.

It is an angry pen that strides across the pages sketching the disappearance of checks on rulers, the inaccessible courts, the dirty elections that keep good Indians away from politics, the unacknowledged but massive corruption (80 %) in the IAS (Indian Administrative Service), the cheating done by the system – in denying malnutrition child deaths, in redefining poverty to camouflage the real figures, in mocking the Right to Information Act, in refusing to introduce physical audit, in keeping institutions (Lok Pal, Commissions for Human Rights etc,) unarmed to check government malfunction etc. (The fate of more than 1000 applications under the Right to Information Act has been analysed.)

The chapters also present:

  • an evaluation of some major schemes (Employment Guarantee (EGS and MNREGA), Irrigation, Women’s Savings Groups (Bachat Gats), Resettlement of Urban Slums, Rehabilitation of Project Displaced Families);
  • gender issues;
  • corruption cases involving the IAS;
  • scams like the Mumbai Floor Space Index (FSI) and Urban Land Ceiling (ULC) scams;
  • the story of how difficult it was to punish the drug giant, Glaxo;
  • the Pune parliamentary election – the dirt, intimidation, absence of secrecy and the irrelevance for the poor;
  • the over protected, unaccountable judiciary – failing to deliver freedom and justice, stubbornly and openly refusing to clean itself;
  • caste, karma and the undemanding voter;
  • the nature and definition of poverty – reducing figures sitting in the office;
  • glimpses into the world of the IAS bureaucrat – training, personality, incompetence, corruption, the IAS wife;
  • the surrender of the IAS officer to the politician;
  • Nehru’s role in the growth of corruption;
  • Nehru’s failure in implementing land reform (to pull the small cultivator out of poverty and dependence);
  • Gandhi’s advocacy of caste (little known), his absurd view of the ideal state and social harmony.

People ask what it was like to survive in a corrupt environment so, for entertainment, a few pages about myself and the family have been added.

Harassment

Harassment, simply stated, is punishment for doing the right things. In exposing and countering the lies and corruption in the establishment I was greeted with warnings, “show cause” notices, transfers, bad Annual Confidential Reports (assessment reports) and enquiries.

Some examples

Work done Punishment received
Prevented land of small farmers from being acquired for projects (under political pressure) Transfer
Stopped corrupt transfers of zilla parishad school teachers, illegal approval of steel tenders etc. Transfer
Lodged criminal complaints (First Information Reports) in Mumbai police stations against Mumbai land mafia Transfer; Departmental Enquiry for “leaking” information to the press and maligning senior (IAS) officers
Lodging criminal complaints against officials for corruption in the EGS (Employment Guarantee Scheme) Transfer; Bad ACR (Annual Confidential Report)
Ordering closure of Glaxo factory in Mumbai (for some days) for violation of waste disposal rules (to prevent spurious drugs entering the market) Transfer (As soon as inspection of second Glaxo factory at Nasik was ordered)
Did a survey and produced a report on child deaths due to malnutrition Received a show cause notice (for starting an enquiry against me) for contradicting the government stand that there were no malnutrition related child deaths
Lodged a corruption case with the police against the Chief Secretary Received a notice for lodging case without government approval
Reported wrong approval for promotion (of a state service officer to the IAS) given by UPSC member (committee chairman) Received a notice for misconduct
Stopped corruption in the Pune Municipal Corporation, demolished illegal buildings of influential people etc. Transfer (High Court cancelled this transfer)
Suspended corrupt officials in the Pune Municipal Corporation, cancelled illegal lease of government land in Pune city to the Member of Parliament (Kalmadi) Transferred again
Inspected Employment Guarantee Scheme works (roads, small dams etc.) and lodged corruption cases with the police Transfer (In spite of the Legislature Committee stating that I should not be transferred till the cases (charge sheets) were sent to court)
Organised detection of 102 corruption cases of Talathis and Circle Officers relating to recording of land titles in 5 districts of Pune Division Transfer
Cancelled lease of government land granted to MLA (Member of Legislative Assembly) for salt mining because he constructed bunds leading to flooding of fields of villagers and submerging of access roads to villages. Transfer

Media Coverage and Interviews

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Court Victories

For every malafide transfer, one cannot rush to court — it is too demanding on cash, time and peace of mind. Two cases are mentioned below.

  1. The Glaxo factory in Mumbai was ordered to be shut down. FIRs (complaints) were also lodged in police stations against the Mumbai land mafia. The government transferred me and blocked my promotion. I approached the High Court, which ordered the government to promote me.

  2. I was transferred from the post of Commissioner, Pune Municipal Corporation, for suspending corrupt officials, cancelling the illegal lease of government land to a Member of Parliament, demolishing illegal constructions by politicians and businessmen, and recovering taxes from rich defaulters. Some citizens approached the Mumbai High Court and the transfer was cancelled.