Shankar Singh: From a tout to an activist - Citizen News Service (CNS)
Sidharth
by Dr Sandeep Pandey CNS
Shankar Singh was a tout at the Road Transport Office earlier and used
to get people's work done by paying bribes to the officials and take
his own cut. Today he is a right to information activist working with
a team in Kanpur to check corruption not just at the road transport
office but also at other offices.
Born to a family of JK Jute Mill worker, his early days were tough.
His father met with an accident and had to leave the job. He became an
associate of communist leader S.N. Banerji and started a restaurant
named Raja Tea Stall which was managed by eight of the twelve children
who survived in the family. As Shankar grew up he managed to get a job
with the Roshan Transport Company. He was paid Rs. 2000 a month to be
stationed at the RTO to take care of the company's work there. He used
to get the roads and goods tax deposited. He used to take care of
license, fitness, permit and registration of new vehicles. In 2006 he
was unknowingly involved in the illegal sale of a Maruti van which was
bought with loan from a company. When the new owner sought loan from
another company, the first company objected as its payments were still
pending and a complaint was filed. Shankar Singh was beaten by a clerk
on the directions of the officer. This provoked his conscience. He
decided to take on the system. He lodged complaints with the Chief
Minister and the Commissioner about irregularities in the RTO. The
Commissioner and the officer at RTO worked out a compromise for him
and the clerk was made to apologize to him. That is how his file was
closed.
But now he did not want to go back to the rotten system. He saw news
about right to information campaign in the newspapers. He was
attracted by it. He decided to go to the camp. Before he realized, he
became a volunteer with the right to information campaign in Kanpur
city. At the RTO where a learning license which costs Rs. 60 but is
made for Rs. 200 and the regular license which costs Rs. 140 but is
made for Rs. 350, when Shankar and his friends decided to organize a
RTI camp, the licenses were made for the actual fees. His role was
reversed. He was no longer facilitating corruption. He was there to
check it. The staff of the office was terrorized by his presence.
Shankar now finds himself in a piquant situation. 1200 of his old
colleagues, who prefer to call themselves as 'transport advisors' and
are formally registered as 'Parivahan Salahkar Samiti' since 1982 as a
society, want their profession to be legitimized. They claim that if
their role is officially recognized and they are authorized to charge
a legitimate fees for the service they render, they would stop
facilitating corruption at the RTO. They have told Shankar that if he
wants a corruption free system then he must lead the struggle for
their livelihood rights. On the other hand Shankar has vowed that he
would not allow any corruption to take place at the RTO even if it
means going against his own former colleagues.
Shankar Singh joined the first RTI camp in Kanpur city on 15th
November, 2006, the conclusion of which was attended by Central
Government Minister Shriprakash Jaiswal, also the MP from Kanpur .
Since then over the last two years Shankar Singh must have been
present as a volunteer in hundreds of camps. There are about ten camps
organized every month with two to three averaging per week. Anywhere
from 50 to 200 applications are prepared in these camps which are
filed in different government offices. Most of the applications are
concerned with Kanpur Development Authority, Nagar Nigam, Kanpur
Electricity Supply Corporation, Water Board, Police, RTO, Social
Welfare Department, District Supply Office, Basic Shiksha Adhikari,
Kanpur University , Awas-Vikas, Banks, Passport, District Magistrate's
office, etc. Recently after results for the High School were announced
there was a huge number of students wanting to know whether they could
see their answer books. The Kanpur Right to Information Campaign
Committee, of which Shanker Singh is now a permanent and important
part, immediately organized a six day camp in which 1200 students
filed applications seeking photocopies of their answer books for
various subjects. They suspect that they have not been fairly
evaluated and would like to verify this. The RTI campaign has
generated an empowering awareness among people as a result of which
people feel that they can ask legitimate questions as their democratic
right.
In May 2008 Shankar Singh also participated in a social audit of
National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme in the Miyaganj Block of
neighbouring Unnao District. He now feels that his responsibility as a
concerned citizen are not just limited to Kanpur city. As his horizon
of understanding broadens he feels a growing commitment within him for
other social issues too. He spent nine days in rural areas of Unnao
trying to understand the way the village panchayats and the Block
Development Office functions and how the vested interests are
responsible for siphoning off huge sums of money from government
schemes and how the papers are fudged. He proved to be an important
member of his social audit team too which visited various villagers
and interacted with ordinary village labourers and interviewed them to
find deficiencies in the implementation of NREGS.
Shankar Singh's life has taken an about turn. From slipping into the
ever deadly world of corruption and crime he has dragged himself out
with some effort and placed himself in a position from where he is
rising everyday as a shining star. He has become synonymous for hope
for many a people who have been victimized in some way. And Shankar is
full of optimism. He always encourages people to stand up and fight
for their rights. His exuberance inspires confidence in others.
Shankar Singh's dream is now to serve the people from even bigger
platforms. He wishes to contest an election some day. He has realized
that the small battles that he is now fighting every day would become
a little bit easier if he acquires a legitimate constitutional
position. He wishes to serve more people and at a faster rate.
Dr Sandeep Pandey
(The author is a Ramon Magsaysay Awardee (2002) for emergent
leadership, heads the National Alliance of People's Movements (NAPM)
and did his PhD from University of California, Berkeley in control
theory which is applicable in missile technology. He taught at Indian
Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur before devoting his life to
strengthening people's movements in early 1990s. He can be contacted
at: ashaa...@yahoo.com, www.ashaparivar.org)
http://www.citizen-news.org/2009/01/shankar-singh-from-tout-to-activist.html