Sanjeev Chaturvedi, the Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer of 2002 Batch (Haryana Carde), has been selected to be awarded the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award for 2015.
He is currently posted as deputy secretary at All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) in the national Capital. During his tenure as the Chief Vigilance Officer (CVO) of AIIMS, Chaturvedi claimed to have detected many scams.
In an interview with The Pioneer, the 40-year-old bureaucrat narrated his journey of exposing corruption in Haryana while being posted as Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) to AIIMS. He says, “With truth, confidence and continuous hard work anyone can achieve his goals”.
You have exposed the corruption at various levels. What encouraged you and how did you manage to do itIJ
Being from a family of freedom fighter, it has encouraged me to stand up against corruption. As a bureaucrat, it is my duty to work for the country. We have to expose the nexus of wrong doers who are destroying our nation. Our country can only prosper when you have certain goals for development of nation. There were many ups and down as there were some elements who did not want me to break their nexus and continuously tried to put spokes. Some had filed FIR against me and many times I had to visit court, so that I cannot concentrate on my work. However, I still managed to focus on vision to expose corruption.
How was the situation when you worked in HaryanaIJ
It was a struggle time for me. An FIR was filed against me in Jhajjar District in 2005. I have worked with full passion against various corrupt elements, which were more powerful than me. During that time I had to face 12 transfers in five-year (2005 to 2010) in the Haryana Carde.
How was your experience at AIIMSIJ
In my two years tenures as CVO at AIIMS, I took action against the dubious supply of medicine, role of middlemen in making OPD cards, irregularities in recruitment and use of fake certificates and many others. At that time also, some elements tried to put barrier in my work, but at last honesty wins.
Now you have won the award. So, what next you are hoping forIJ
I just hope that everything gets settle down. My first priority is to get over the cases which are pending in the court. My Uttarkand transfer carde case has to be decided by the Government within first week of August and then there are cases lying in the court to be worked upon.
What do you want to say about the Judiciary of IndiaIJ
I want to salute the Judiciary of the country, which is robust and works to give justice to people. During this period, none of the lawyer charged a single penny from me. Again, I want to thank legal fraternity of India.
Any message for other bureaucratsIJ
We work for the nation and no barriers can stop us. Keep going and work hard for the country and people, because at the end truth and honesty wins.