A conscientious leviathan among the Civil Services cadre of the 1980 batch, known for his innovative approach and insights, Mahameghabahan Aira Kharabela Swain relinquished his coveted job in 1988 to serve the people by embracing a career in public life. He opened his innings in the elections of 1989 by winning from the Baleswar Parliamentary Constituency and subsequently got reelected in 1999 and 2004 from the same home constituency. He calls a spade a spade and minces no words. He breathes all fire and brimstone when he notices the civil society on the wane while vowing to banish the hydra-headed monster of corruption. In an interview to The Pioneer, he spoke to Sugyan Choudhury on various issues.
What made you to relinquish such a coveted position in Civil Services you heldIJ
It’s a general perception that politicians are swindlers, thieves and that politics is nothing but a meditation on the bestial floor. Shouting at politics and politicians from outside the fence serves no purpose. If you think politics is mud pool, you must come and join to cleanse it. You cannot expect that some others will do the job and you will reap the bonanza. Hence, intellectuals should join politics and public life to purge it out of its dross but not just by crying hoarse from outside. That is why I was impelled to join politics with a view to raising a tirade against corruption.
What’s your considered opinion regarding the role of State agencies like the Crime Branch and the Vigilance looking into the chit fund scamIJ When the same is done by the CBI, a large number of people have come to the fore. How could such discrepancies occurIJ
A scam of such a humongous magnitude could not have been made possible without the active support of the party in power. Take the example of West Bengal in the Saradha chit fund scam where MPs and other bigwigs of the ruling Trinamool Congress are involved. An MP, who is now in jail, was suspended from the party. A former DGP of the State and an MlA were also arrested and still languishing in custody. A former DGP of Assam, who was connected with the scam, committed suicide.
In Odisha. the CBI seized Rs 28 lakh from the house of BJD MP Ramchandra Hansda. BJD MlA Pravat Tripathy, a close confidante of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, applied for advance bail. The CBI has understandably wants nine BJD MlAs and MPs and Ministers to be handed over to it, but the Assembly Speaker is yet to give permission for it. Some Ministers and MlAs were offering the best cooperation awards to chit fund scamster Pradeep Sethy.
Even the CM’s photograph is seen with Sethy. Sethy was also watching a cricket match along with nine BJD MlAs and Ministers. I don’t mean to say the CM himself is involved in the corruption. But he has full knowledge that his own coterie of MlAs, MPs and Ministers are behind such a gargantuan scam. When a PIl was filed in the Supreme Court by RTI activists, the CM sent his officers and advocates sufficiently funding them to the apex court and they argued that there was no necessity of a CBI investigation as the matter was looked into by the State Vigilance and Crime Branch. In whose interest was this doneIJ The CM wanted that the probe should be conducted by the State agencies so that small fishes would be caught while the bigger ones would be let off. It is only the CBI which is bringing out the big fishes from muddy waters.
The Central Empowered Committee (CEC) has submitted its report wherein it has found that the mining irregularities were conducted under the State patronage. Officers from the cadres of Chief Secretary to the lower rungs were totally involved from the year 2000 to 2011. Has the State Government filed any cases against the errant officers or they have been offered prized posts after their superannuationIJ
Everybody knows that the mining scam irregularities were conducted in broad daylight violating the Forest and Environment rules.
You can’t imagine the minerals worth of thousands of crores of rupees were siphoned away to China and other countries at the cost of the State exchequer. Thousands of loaded trucks carrying minerals were run from Sundargarh and Keonjhar to Paradip. It was an impossible bargain to venture into the Paradip Port area in those days of irregular mining. Such mine owners have not paid their proper dues to the State exchequer. The Reddy brothers of Karnataka are still cooling their heels in jail. Similar CBI probe is very much desired in case of the Odisha mega mining scam. When the State Government has imposed fine of Rs65,000 crore on mine owners, you can very well imagine the magnitude of illegal mining conducted. The Shah Commission has recommended for a CBI probe and its CEC has found the State officialdom guilty.
A corruption of such huge magnitude could not have occurred without the State patronage. Then who prevents a CBI inquiry into the mining scam and in whose interest a CBI inquiry should not conductedIJ If the NaMo Government swears a cleaning operation, it should clean Odisha and India as a matter of principle. The misuse of power and position by the Government headed by Naveen Patnaik, who feigns innocence, should be punctiliously probed to establish the truth.
What, according to you, is a glaring example of misuse of power by the BJD GovernmentIJ
Instances are many and varied. Take for example the case of Prakash Mishra, former DGP. No sooner had he gone to Delhi, a Vigilance case was filed against him for no noticeable fault of his. If the CAG report of 2010 alleged misappropriation of money against Sri Mishra, why did you make him DGP in 2012, two years laterIJ It is undoubtedly an afterthought well-designed to prevent Mishra from becoming CBI chief. As an Odia officer, Mishra knew the details more than that of the present CBI team investigating into the chit fund scam.
The BJD Government became scared of him occupying the CBI Director position, which would have put the scam-ridden Government into an imbroglio. We are all impressed with such a resplendent Odia officer, who by occupying the august position would have made all Odias proud. But the CM has acted in different way.
The Machiavellian manoeuvring of the Naveen Patnaik Government is intended to frustrate the interest Odisha and Odias. No one is going to swallow the pill offered by the State Vigilance which only acts at the behest of the CM.
I was also a Government officer. No advances are allowed to a supplier unless he supplies the materials. But in case of exigency, you have to pay the supplier the advance to get the work done. Since you have not only to bring the horse but you have to make it drink the water. The spirit of law, not its letters, is to be adhered to. The decks for Prakash Mishra must have been cleared when the IB might have given its clearance. Otherwise, no consideration to appoint him to such a high post would have been possible. When the IB has issued clearance, there was no point in pouring calumny upon an outstanding and diligent officer.
What is the future of your Utkal BharatIJ
The future of our party is immense. What we could not have achieved over the last five years, we have achieved it over a few months by now. More and more people are enthusiastically joining our party since they know that we are out and out against corruption, hunger and unemployment.
(The interviewer can be reached at sugyanchoudhury@gmail.com)