HYDERABAD: As you enter his modest house in a corner of Sainikpuri, one cannot miss a picture of Swami Vivekananda and three lines under it: “That you may catch my fire, that you may be intensely sincere... it is my constant prayer.” Ramachandra Samal is a picture of the happily retired man as he throws his arms open wide and speaks expansively about his days in the administration. He had a career of crucial postings, but he is best remembered for what he did on his last day in service. On that feverish day back in Sept. 2007, he submitted a 56-page report on graft in the government. As the vigilance commissioner, it was what he was appointed to do.Regardless of the high-flying reputation of the populist regime, he took the bureaucracy to the cleaners, indicting a whole cabal of them for corruption and their protectors in the political class. He was hounded out as a maverick, a loose cannon— even by the media.Five years later, as his former comrades cry foul about being in the glare of the CBI’s investigations, Samal’s views remain the same: “The functioning of the bureaucracy has become irrelevant.” Excerpts from an interview with RC Samal: What do you think of the current unrest among IAS officers? Till the going was good, they had no problem. Once the going got tough, they have a problem. Overall, the character and conduct of officers has deteriorated.They did whatever was asked by the government and now they are crying foul. Corruption means different things to different officers. Some are fond of flashy cars and important postings.Some want to make money and amass property. Bureaucrats tend to think that when ministers are happily making hundreds of crores, what’s wrong if they too make a few crores.Are there any honest officers left? About 10 per cent of them still resist the wrong decisions of ministers. You know, honesty is problematic. It can only be rewarded by god.As vigilance commissioner, did you find corruption deeply embedded in the bureaucracy? I can easily say that 80 per cent of IAS officers are corrupt. How many resist wrong decisions by ministers? How many go on leave in protest? How many seek a transfer? A majority of them compromise for a consideration.How do you view the IAS fraternity taking cover behind business rules? Do the business rules say that a secretary has no responsibility at all? Ministers are responsible and so are secretaries.The secretary is the primary adviser to the minister. But secretaries are not like K V P Ramachandra Rao, who was an adviser but never signed a file. Everything he rendered was oral. But secretaries have to record their views when they disagree with the minister.Is the CBI harassing IAS officers? A retired colleague has said only the small fish are being caught while the big fish go scot-free.I totally disagree with that view. The courts will decide who is the big fish and who the small. The CBI has its own manual of procedure. If an investigating officer has prima facie evidence, he can proceed against anybody. The CBI is doing a good job. When they have evidence against ministers, they will proceed against them too.Were you invited to the general body meeting of the IAS Officers Association? I only attend condolence meetings these days. Yes, I was invited. But I refused to go as a majority of my colleagues would not agree with my views. It was pointless to go.But I read about the proceedings in the newspapers. It was stupid to say that only small fish are being caught.What do you think of the investigation of B P Acharya and Y Srilakshmi? I know B P Acharya personally. He is a competent and knowledgeable officer but the fact remains that the CBI has found lapses on his part. That is why I say that bureaucrats do not examine matters on merit. I don’t know much about Srilakshmi. Their arrests will act as a deterrent to others.People in the government called you crazy when you made your report public in September 2007.Yes, I was called insane because what I did was quite unusual for them. These days, whoever talks of honesty is called insane or crazy. Honesty is unusual, isn’t it? Why did you make that report public? You also vanished from Hyderabad for some time after that.The government was not willing to table the report in the Assembly. There were about 14 reports including those sent during my tenure. I made the report public out of frustration. I did not vanish from Hyderabad. I went to Orissa as the media was hounding me.What happened to your report? Nothing happend. A committee was set up. It did not even meet and no action was taken. That was expected as YSR was there.Some people filed defamation cases against you.Yes, V K Agarwal and K Ratna Prabha.Two cases have been quashed by the High Court and two more are pending.Were you ever threatened? Were you scared? I was not scared but some people did insinuate threats to my life. But I’ve always believed in dharma. It always takes care of you.What do you think of the functioning of IAS officers today? IAS officers are no better than the assistant section officers at Secretariat.Everyone has to record his or her views if they disagree with a minister’s decision. There is no point in crying foul now if they didn’t. Lobbying the chief minister or the Union home minister will serve no purpose.
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