Times of India: Noida: Saturday,
March 08, 2014.
Sushil
Kaushik (45) is not like any other constable deployed at the Gautam Budh Nagar
SSP's office. A passionate RTI activist, Kaushik has filed several RTI
applications against his own bosses. His upright stand against corruption has
seen him facing frequent transfers and penalties, with a promotion being a
wishful thought. It doesn't faze him, however, as he says that he is working to
reform the police system from within and narrow the gap between cops and
people.
Kaushik said
that he joined the UP police force as a constable in 1989 and was first posted
in Bijnor district. "I was taken aback to see how corrupt police officials
could be. I saw police taking money from contractors, vendors and scrap
dealers.," he said.
He would
complain about his colleagues' wrongdoing to senior officials in his early days
at the department. "Later, I came to know that some senior officials
themselves shared the swag. The complaints went against me," he said.
Over the last
15 years, Kaushik has been transferred to at least 15 places. "Sometimes I
was transferred to a police station.
When the SSP
came to know about my past record, the same night I was transferred from there
to other places," he said, stating that he had been transferred to
Ghaziabad, Serkot, Kalagardh, Afzalgardh, Dadri, Podi Gadwal and Noida among
other places.
Fed up with
the frequent transfers, the constable went on medical leave in 1996, the same
year he got married. He joined the force at the Dadri office soon after.
When the RTI
Act came into force in 2005, Kaushik found a new way to tackle the system. He
has filed over 100 RTIs, mostly against senior police officers.
"I filed
an RTI application against five SPs from Baghpat district that year. The police
department had been deducting Rs 20-30 every month from constables' salaries in
the name of education, entertainment, a mess fee and sports. This money was not
audited and we did not know where it was spent," he said. Such deductions
came up to over Rs 80 lakh a month and Kaushik's RTI ensured that such
deductions were stopped.
Kaushik's
struggle has had its obstacles. In 2005, an SP against whom he filed an RTI
application, hired goons to teach him a lesson.
Through his
time in the force, Kaushik continued to study and completed an MA-LLB to better
comprehend legal aspects. All police officials are not same, he says,
particularly admiring Gautam Budh Nagar SSP Preetinder Singh.
"He is a
good person and is dedicated to serving people. I get his support in my work
and he appreciates what I do," said Kaushik, who has launched a campaign
titled 'Agar Police Satayen, Toh Hume Batayen' (If the police trouble, tell us)
to narrow down the gap between police and people.
Preetinder
Singh said that Kaushik is an ideal constable and he has done good work in
seeking information through RTI.
"I
support him in his works. Once Kaushik sought for voluntary retirement, but I
advised him against it," SSP Preetinder Singh said. Kaushik then dropped
the idea. Singh said he has planned to organize a Jan-Chaupal where people can
discuss problem they face with police.
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