‘CM couldn’t deliver on promises’

"No one who committed a blunder will admit that he has done it." This could be his first major and heavily loaded observation after the new Congress government came to power 16 months back in the state.

Expressing displeasure over the action taken by the government on his report, he said no perceptible change has happened. The apolitical figure spoke about a lot of issues during an interview with Deccan Chronicle. Here are excerpts of his interview.

My diary is full of engagements till mid-January. I keep visiting schools, colleges besides many institutes. So far, I have visited 750 schools and colleges. Yesterday, I attended a conference organised by Swedish Institute for Management experts. I spoke about corruption and it was received well. My intention is to ignite young minds in schools and colleges. I try to highlight the simple philosophy behind this: man indulges in acquiring more when he is not content. To acquire power and money, he circumvents the rules and indulges in corruption. I wish when they grow up they can equip themselves to find contentment early in life and dissuade themselves from corruption.

No. See these political parties are like that. Till they come to power, their behaviour is different from what you see when they are in power. There is no distinction between the BJP and Congress. This government (Siddaramaiah government) did not do anything. We recommended action against over 700 officials. Nothing was done, I submitted the report in 2011.

Till 2013, another government was in power. Later, someone went to the Supreme Court, they appointed CEC and based on the CEC report, the Apex Court asked the CBI to investigate some mining cases. So, the CBI investigated and filed chargesheets. One of the excuses this government (Siddaramaiah’s) may give is that it was being investigated by the CBI. You (government) constituted the Special Investigating Team and left it hanging. If everything is done by the CBI why have you constituted an SIT? Either you should accepted my report or reject it. They had to investigate and prosecute the officials involved in the ore scam.

Assuming they had to go through the report, they need time. But how much time do you need? The records were annexed with my report. Since bureaucrats were involved, they stalled it. There was a Congress CM's name in my report besides two other CMs who colluded in irregularities. Some senior officers are hand in glove with these politicians. If you had the intention to punish those involved, you would have made efforts instead of giving excuses.

Exactly. When it comes to protecting their political rights, not the legitimate ones, all are one. You see what happened to Lokpal bill. For one law, the battle went on for over 40 years. Finally, when parliament passed the bill, it was nothing but an eye wash. It cannot deal with corruption cases. A section of the Prevention of corruption act says such cases should be be looked into by no less than an officer of the rank of deputy superintendent of police. Then, why do you need the Lokpal? It has no teeth. You may ask how did you do it when you were the Lokayukta? I had police officers under me, and I used to write their service records. So, I had a moral authority on them to get work done. I would positively influence them, so they did their job.

There are two types of people, those who are landless occupying government land, and those who encroached upon a large chunk of land. With regard to landless, you can deal with them leniently on humanitarian grounds. Karnataka government passed a law which is a good move, Those who occupied less than four acres should be dealt with leniently and those who encroached upon more than four acres have to face the music. The government should not help builders or ministers to enjoy special benefits. The state should act tough. I saw a minister saying he did not encroach upon any land and it was during his father's time, it happened. If there is a dispute let it be fought in the court.

You are absolutely right. But who cares? Take for example my report. Besides mine owners, I did mention officials and politicians. If best quality iron ore is sold, if I may say so, (but the government says it it royalty), at Rs 32 per ton while the same quality iron ore is sold at Rs 6700 in the China market, then how do you see this? Will they sell their own property at a throwaway price?

If we have greed for power and money this is what happens. Unless we emphasize in education about honesty we can't expect change. This has to be inculcated at a young age.

Yes, I will. They (Doreswamy group) contacted me. Due to prior engagement, I could not go on all the days, I went and sat with them five times. We have common goals, I support their fight.

First, bureuacrats are the same so you cannot expect anything more from them. They are used to a system which cannot be changed so easily.

One thing I can say, CM Siddaramaiah seems to be honest compared to many of his predecessors. But, somehow, he could not deliver what he promised. Probably, the constant fight between the CM and KPCC president might have hurt the administration. So the CM could not focus on administrative matters. The main problem of the Congress is that there are two CMs here and three chiefs in Delhi. A constitutionally elected CM cannot implement what he plans. Some ministers seem to be loyal to the party president and obviously do not care for the CM. And a few others who get commands from New Delhi may not respect the CM. Under these circumstances how can the CM function?