Bribery in My Name

A True Story

Quite a few of us might hsve faced similar situations during their active service. I thought I could share this incident with others.

I was working as Production Engineer in the Signal & Telecommunication Workshop, Southern Railway, Podanur, a suburb of Coimbatore. I was in charge of developmental work, adding new products to the production plans, procuring machinerying recruiting skilled staff, etc. and achieving the required level of production

One evening I received a call from my boss at Madras that a proposal had to be made to take up an expansion project and I was given twelve hours to get the proposal ready. I sat that night with a supervisor and made a proposal costing Rs.75 lakhs.

The proposal was taken by me to the Head Office next day and was promptly approved. We made a detailed estimate along with proposals for additional staff and reorganization. Approval was obtained with some minor changes and I was put in charge of implementing it. The workshop, which mainly served the southern zone was evolving into an all India establishment.

The workshop needed additional skilled manpower and a decision was made to recruit personnel at the skilled level. Some of the workers were against the decision and wanted to scuttle the recruitment. I had arranged for practical tests to be conducted on a Sunday. Some of the workers had locked a few machines in such a way that an effort to operate them would result in breakage. This was anticipated and I conducted a systematic survey to check each machine before it was assigned to a candidate. The process of testing then went on smoothly.

However, one incident which came to light a few days later put me in a tight spot. A friend who was working in Coimbatore, brought in a news that some workers trained by PSG Industrial Institute at Coimbatore alleged that the recruitment was influenced by money and that I had been bribed by at least one candidate. I was shocked. I was keen on finding the true story behind the allegation and went to PSG Industrial Institute, posing as one who wanted his protégé to get a job in Podanur. I was told that there was one Kanakasabapathi who was corrupt and could be approached.

I wanted to find out who could have paid money to whom. I scanned the list of selected candidates and located just one person who was trained in PSG Industrial Institute. I decided to confront him. On direct questioning, the candidate gave in and came out with the truth. After he passed through the practical tests, he had been sent to the Railway Hospital for fitness test. The doctor in charge had demanded money stating that he was the middleman collecting money on my behalf. The boy had paid.

I was at a loss. There was no way I could prove that my hands were clean without affecting the candidate. Finally after consulting a friend who knew the Chief Medical Officer of Southern Railway I decided to meet him and pour out my predicament. I had known the CMO though not intimately and he could only sympathize with me as there was no way we could prove the allegation. However, he did the best he could. The doctor in charge was transferred out to a station in Kerala.

Later I met the people in PSG Industrial Institute, revealed my identity to them and explained the whole sequence of incidents, requesting them not to pass allegations without verifying.