The President Takes Over

by Bhaskar Sarkar

The Raid Raj

  The President was the first to declare his personal assets and those of his family as per the Ordinance issued for Government Servants. Now with the 30 day period for declaring the assets by government servants coming to an end, he decided to lead by example. He called the Chief of Army Staff and the heads of the enforcement directorate and income tax department to carry out a raid on his houses to verify his declaration of assets. He said this had to be done in all seriousness. He requested the resident director of BBC to accompany the raids to ensure that the search was thorough and no leniency was shown. All present vehemently protested against the President’s decision. How could the house of the president be searched? It would be a great indignity to the head of the nation. The President stood firm by his decision. He said he wanted to tell the nation that no one was above law. And there was no stigma attached to the search. The stigma would be attached if any incriminating things were found. Since every one was to be searched, it was only correct that the searches started with the President.

  The President said that the searches must be thorough. Every nook and corner must be searched. All securities and fixed deposit certificates would be studied. All bank lockers were to be opened and their contents examined. All gold found on the premises must be weighed. Cash over Rs 20,000 and gold over one kilogram will be seized unless it had been declared. Metal detectors were to be used to search gardens, floors and wall to detect hidden metal.

  The President laid down that twenty teams would carry out searches in each city every day. Each team would have an army officer and a detachment with metal detectors. It would have adequate men of the income tax and the enforcement directorate to carry out the searches within one day. All known premises of an individual and his close relatives will be searched on the same day.

  The raids were carried out as directed. The search was covered by media teams and was shown on all channels. It sent shivers down the spines of the corrupt officials and politicians. Some tried to request friends and relatives to keep the loot for some time till the raids were over. Some asked their servants or confidants. Some went to the religious places and dumped money and jewelry into the hundis (donation boxes). Some gave it away to the beggars and to the poor. Still it was difficult to get rid of the loot. There was just too much of it. Many just did not have the heart to part with it. They tried to hide it as best as they could and hoped that it would not be found. Some informed the police where the money and gold was hidden and claimed the reward.

  Once the thirty day time limit for declaration of assets by Government Servants and politicians was over, it was found that 20 percent had failed to file their returns. Their services were immediately terminated and they were the first to be raided. Once this was done all other government servants, secretary and above, officers of sensitive departments like police, custom officials, exercise inspectors, officers of Central and State governments who dealt with construction, procurements and employment, Regional Transport Officers and all ministers were searched. It was a massive operation and continued for months. A substantial amount of loot was recovered. Many Government Servants lost their jobs.

  About 50 percent of the senior officers in the Government were found to have assets more than their known sources of income. These assets were seized and the officers dismissed. Fear lurked in the corridors of power. A new, younger and cleaner lot of officer took charge. The level of corruption dropped.

  The President now turned towards some of the non gazetted staff in some of the sensitive departments. Patwaris (holders of village land records), revenue officials, meter readers in water supply and electric supply departments, ticket checkers of the railways, reservation clerks, clerks in municipal corporation, sales tax and exercise departments, and union leaders were targeted. The cash and assets seized was astonishing and in some cases exceeded those of the senior officers. These people were suspended and after inquiry, dismissed from service.

  The people were delighted with the happenings. Train conductors were giving berths without asking for money. It had become possible to get things done without paying. It was a miracle in itself. They only wondered how long this trend would last.

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