Shot for exposing scam, plucky PCS officer clears UPSC exam
AGRA : During his first posting as district social welfare officer in Muzaffarnagar, Rinkoo Singh Rahee, 40, was shot at by local goons in collusion with his own staff, for exposing a scam in the social welfare department. Yet he stood unwavering in his resolve to fight corruption. He felt empowering himself would help in continuing his fight against corruption, so he resolved to clear the civil services exam and finally did it in his sixteenth attempt.
A resident of Dori Nagar in Aligarh, Rinkoo Rahee passed Class 12 from the Government Inter College in Aligarh, where his father ran an ‘aata chakki’ till recently.
He cleared the PCS exam in the first attempt in 2004 and got his first posting in 2008 as district social welfare officer in Muzaffarnagar in western UP.
“It was a tough job with mafia and touts dominating the scene and interested in schemes of the social welfare department. They were in cohorts with my office staff, including an accountant, and when I refused to toe the line, I was fired at while I was playing badminton at my residence in Muzaffarnagar,” said Rahee.
He said he had caught a case of embezzlement of crores of rupees in Muzaffarnagar wherein amount sanctioned for pension and scholarship from district social welfare department was misappropriated by some people in collusion with the staff of the district social welfare office in Muzaffarnagar. Rahee had sought fair probe of the amount disbursed for social welfare schemes through treasury from 1998 to 2012 which fell in wrong hands instead of reaching the actual beneficiaries. “It was a brutal attack on March 26, 2009 when bullets were pumped into me and I lost one of my eyes, an ear and damaged my jaw which left me physically handicapped. I had to remain in hospital for months but went on fighting and filed a case. The Muzaffarnagar court convicted those guilty, including the then accountant in the district social welfare office,” he recalled, adding that the main accused, however, escaped punishment. Jail term of 10 years was awarded to four of the accused. An engineering graduate from Jamshedpur, Rinku Singh Rahee always yearned to clear the civil service exam so as to be better equipped to change the system.
Presently he is centre in charge at the joint institution of the Uttar government, running a coaching centre for IAS and PCS exam aspirants in Hapur.
“Being in the administrative services is an effective medium to serve the community and nation. It is the only job where we are entrusted with government money to be spent on welfare schemes.
We act as trustee to the government exchequer and must adhere to transparency, although it is up to the officer to choose whether to spend it on ‘good’ work or ‘bad,’” he said. “However, corruption seems to have strong roots and sways many from the right path. Still, I continued on my way and while teaching students, had a positive energy from them which helped me achieve 683 rank in my 16th attempt. (allowed to those physically challenged)” he said