Tribal women fight against corruption

Adilabad: Adivasi women Uppala Shashikala, Pusam Suryabai and Jambi Mondakka may not be as well-known as Anna Hazare, Arvind Kejriwal or Kiran Bedi, but these poor illiterate women from the interior areas of the district have fearlessly fought against corruption through the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB).

This year, there were four women complainants out of the 20 cases that ACB handled in the district. The cases were related to issuing pattadar pass-books, land mutations and against six VROs, three tahsildars, against the registration staff, three police officials, one excise inspector, two MEOs, an assistant engineer of APNPDCL and an assistant engineer of the Housing department.

The women had approached the ACB against top revenue and police officials and recorded their statements and ensured arrest of the officials despite pressure mounted on them by the officials and their relatives.

Shashikala of Sonapur village of Wankidi mandal travelled 250 km to Karimnagar to lodge a complaint against Wankidi inspector C. Lachanna who demanded Rs10,000 as bribe to release her son Krishna, who was arrested for involvement in clashes between two groups.

She alleged that the inspector had tortured her son and kept him in custody for several days. Then, she approached the ACB against the inspector. Shashikala’s move shocked everyone, as the inspector was infamous in the district for his highhandedness.

Same was the case with Suryabai of Mara-paguda village in Narnoor mandal. She also went to Karimnagar, 150 km away, and lodged a complaint with the Anti-Corruption Bureau against VRO Ade Krishna Veni. Also, Mondakka of Metpalli village in Nennela mandal lodged a complaint with ACB against the VRO.

As many as 20 government employees, including police and excise inspectors, MEO and VROs and tahsildars were nabbed in 2013.

This was the highest number of ACB cases booked in the district.
Speaking to Deccan Chro-nicle, Suryabai said that she had approached the ACB when VRO Krisha-nveni had demanded Rs15,000 to do land mutation and the officer had kept her work pending for months. Karimnagar Range DSP of ACB, T. Sudarshan Goud, welcomed the women appr-oaching the cops without any fear of the accused officials.