Tuesday August 4, 2009, 5:11 pm
Harassment, frequent transfers and threats may be the perfect ingredients of a Bollywood flick aimed at exposing the nexus of corruption at top level in public life, but this seems to have proved a harsh reality for a young officer of the Indian Forest Service (IFS) posted here, who has been trying to emulate the ideals taught in the books that one should be honest, hardworking and dedicated to his work.

He has been reportedly handed over the transfer orders by the authorities concerned for the 11th time in his four-year service period in the state. The reason - perhaps his role in exposing a scam worth Rs 5 crore in a short stint of six months here.

Sanjiv Chaturvedi, the official in question, had hardly any inkling of such a work culture when he had thought of joining this service about seven years ago. Not surprised at the transfer orders, he is now preparing to move to Hisar, his next place of posting.

Armed with the Manjunath Shanmugam award for integrity - 2009, Sanjiv, a direct IFS officer, has decided to carry on his drive to fight corruption in the department despite all kinds of pressure.

He was suspended for a period of about six months and was kept without charge for about two years, but this failed to deter him to change his functioning.

He had joined the service in 2005. He was transferred from Yamunanagar district in 2006, when he took action against some influential persons for poaching wild animals and illegal felling of trees in Saraswati Wildlife Sanctuary. In Fatehabad also, he continued his style of functioning that irked some influential persons after he stopped diversion of funds for a private herbal park. However, this time he was placed under suspension for over six months.

His troubles did not end there as after reinstatement he was not given any posting for nearly six months, following which he was posted against a non-cadre post despite the fact that cadre posts at four places were lying vacant.

He challenged it before the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), which stayed the transfer orders, and he was subsequently posted against a cadre post.

His transfer orders were issued 10 times and he remained without posting for about two years during the past four years. Even false FIRs and complaints were submitted to the vigilance department.

The exposure of a scam in the Jhajjar forest division during April-October last year has perhaps led to the 11th transfer, orders for which were reported to have been issued on August 3.