Expressindia.com:Sukhdeep Kaur: Wednesday , August 17 , 2011.
Forty years after Jagdish Singh Diwan, a non-resident Indian (NRI), came to Chandigarh from the UK after a successful stint as process manager with Coca Cola, the first job to be done back home was make a home. In 2008, after the construction on his property was completed, Diwan went to the Chandigarh Estate Office (EO) to get a no objection certificate (NOC).
“I was asked by the official concerned to pay a bribe. I refused. I told him the property was mine and would have to be transferred to my name sooner or later. Though delayed, the NOC was finally granted,” said Diwan, who is a former general secretary of the Council of Asian People in Haringay, London.
Today among thousands of those waving the Tricolour on Chandigarh’s roads to support the agitation against the Lokpal Bill of Anna Hazare, Diwan said that another incident in 2010 forced him to set up the Anti-Crime and Anti-Corruption Cell. “I had stopped at a red light signal and was hit by the car behind mine. I asked the driver to pay up but he accused me of stopping at the red light signal when other cars had moved on. I was shocked. I spoke to my friends and family and told them I need to do whatever little I can to change mindsets in my country. Now I have 36 volunteers, mostly students, who monitor traffic points and visit schools and colleges with me to impart moral education to students,” he said.
A few yards away, waving the Tricolour with his 13-year-old son Yash was 36-year-old Baldev Singh, who is into the real estate business. Singh even tried a rather unusual way for businessmen to get his work done by government departments - by asking them to explain the delay through the Right to Information Act.
“I filed an RTI in Maharashtra when the registry of some property was delayed. They answered my RTI but my work was still not done. In the real estate business corruption is most rampant. I had to finally bribe officials to get the work done. But there has to be an end to this. I am here with the hope of seeing that end,” he said. His friend has now filed an RTI in Uttar Pradesh as the file for a power connection for his office complex in Noida has still not come through.
Among the many faces is that of 36-year-old Jitendra Pathak, who works as helper at a private firm in Mohali. Even with his small income, he said, he had to bribe officials for getting his name corrected in his birth certificate and later while getting his driving licence. “There are many who can pay but with my limited income, I cannot afford corruption,” he pointed out.
The youngsters participating in the peace march organised by voluntary orrganisations such as Aawaz formed by young lawyers and Anti-Corruption Cell had so far not had their brush with corruption. “For us, it is important to be here as Anna is fighting our battle. He has nothing to gain from the bill. He has shown our generation the way to free this country of corruption,” said a 24-year old girl who studies at Guru Gobind Singh College.
“While I was in the UK, my gurdwara had 187 Indian students coming for the community lunch (langar). For me, getting rid of corruption is also to see an India where the youth is not forced to leave their country in the hope of better lives,” explained Diwan.
.JPG)
.JPG)
