Dr Alok Shukla, who once won praise for reforming Chhattisgarh’s public distribution system (PDS), has finally broken his silence and posted on his Facebook page his defence againstallegations of irregularities in what has come to be known as ‘rice scam’.
The 1986 batch IAS officer, who served as deputy election commissioner in Delhi from 2009 to May 2014, is principal secretary of the state’s food department. He landed in soup when the anti-corruption bureau (ACB) raided 36 offices of the state civil supplies corporation in February, leading to the recovery of around Rs 4 crore along with multiple documents. Over a dozen food department employees are in jail. The ACB submitted its charge sheet, saying poor quality of rice was procured under the PDS thanks to gross irregularity and corruption.
The ACB is awaiting the centre’s nod to prosecute two IAS officers including Shukla.
This week, Shukla presented his side of the story in a Facebook posting. Here is the text of his post:
I came back to Facebook after many months yesterday. Today I realized that many friends my not be aware about what has happened in my life in the mean time. I am therefore writing this rather longish post so that every friend knows and then decide whether to continue associating with me.
I have been framed in a fabricated corruption case, and I am likely to be prosecuted for it soon. It is also possible that I may not get bail immediately and may have to spend time in jail. There is no real evidence against me and the case is false and fabricated, I am confident of my ultimate victory, yet it will be a long time before I am vindicated. This post is not about explanations and excuses. It is about letting every one know about my present situation, so I will not go into the detail so of the case. There will be a time to talk about it later.
I have spent the last few months pondering over questions like why me? and why is life so unfair? I have finally realized that it is not about what life does to me but about what I do to life. I have therefore decided to continue doing what I have always done - do good work to he best of my ability.
I am still working in the Government and cannot leave Government till I retire or win the case, whichever is earlier. I therefore have limitations on what I can do. However I also feel that nothing can limit my efforts to bring good to community and society and no body can stop me from bringing good work to the society in my individual capacity.
I have therefore decided to do the following: -
1. Write - fiction as well as non fiction and get it published. May be some people will find it worthwhile to read about my experiences in life.
2. Pain - This is a childhood hobby of mine.
3. Give motivational lectures and do small modules on leadership, change management, stress management etc. for schools, colleges, universities and other organizations.
4. Help people build institutions like hospitals, schools etc., charitable of course. I have no money do do this, but I am sure that there are lot of people in this world who want to do charitable work and need people with some expertise to help them in their endeavours. I would like to be associated with such projects.
5. I have been developing a website as well as an offline software for electronic medical records . It is not for any commercial purpose. i have pledged to keep it free forever. The first version of software is ready for use. It can be seen on easymed.co.in and I will be happy to personally demonstrate it to any friends who wish to use it.
I have made this post so that every one knows my situation and can decide whether they would like to continue their association with me. I have several ideas for doing good things, in which I need a lot of support from like minded good people who do not think only about money but about society. I will keep posting those ideas on Facebook. All help from friends is welcome.
