Raju Narayana Swamy

Raju Narayana Swamy is an Indian Administrative Service officer .He is now working as the "District Collector" of Pathanamthitta in Kerala, India. He has scored first rank in SSLC, first rank in university in plus two, 10th rank in IIT Entrance Examination, first rank in IAS entrance examination and first rank in IAS training institute. He is also authored twenty books on various subjects, his latest work being " Edapalliyum Vanghoghum " [ [http://www.hindu.com/2006/03/18/stories/2006031815550400.htm The Hindu] ] . [ [http://www.hindu.com/2006/03/02/stories/2006030211150300.htm The Hindu] ] He received the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award in 2004 for his work " Santhimanthram Muzhagunna Thazhvarayil ". [ [http://www.hindu.com/2004/02/08/stories/2004020806060500.htm The Hindu] ]

Career & Political Controversies

His official career has witnessed a lot of political controversies. Posted in his home state ,he always stood against corrupt Politicians. Often his decisions and impartial behaviour were interpreted as his arrogance. Also there are concerted efforts by his opposers in tarnishing his image. [ [http://www.hindu.com/2007/04/30/stories/2007043008210500.htm Hindu-News] ] .

On passing out from IIT Madras Mr. Narayanaswamy wasoffered scholarship by the prestigious MassachusettsInstitute of Technology, USA. He who came from amiddle class family believed that he had a moralobligation to give something in return for the lakhsof rupees the government spent on him as an IITstudent.

He had the intelligence and conviction to realizethat this money came also from the poorest of the poor- who pay up the excise duty on textiles when they buycloth, who pay up customs, excise and sales tax ondiesel when they travel in a bus, and in numerousother ways indirectly pay the government. So hedecided to join IAS hoping he could do something forthe people of this country. And he became a First Rank Holder, which is very difficult for even a hardworking aspirant.

After a decade of meritorious service in IAS, today, Narayanaswamy was forcedout of the IAS profession. A realestate agent wanted to fill up a paddy field which isbanned under law. An application came up beforeNarayanaswamy who was sub collector then, for anexemption from this rule for this plot of land. Uponvisiting the site he found that the complaint from 60poor families that they will face water logging due tothe waste water from a nearby Government MedicalCollege if this paddy field was filled up was correct.

Narayanswamy came under intense political pressure buthe did what was right - refused permission for fillingup the paddy field. That was his first confrontationwith politicians. Soon after his marriage hisfather-in-law closed down a public road to buildcompound wall for his plot of land. People approachedNarayanaswamy with complaint. When talking with hisown father-in-law did not help, he removed theobstructing wall with police help. The result, hismarriage broke up. As district Collector he raided thehouse of a liquor baron who had defaulted Rupees 11crores payment to government and carried out revenuerecovery. A Minister directly telephoned him andordered to return the forfeited articles to the houseof the liquor baron. Narayanswamy politely repliedthat it is difficult. The minister replied thatNarayanaswamy will suffer.

In his district it was a practice to collect croresof rupees for earthen bunds meant for poor farmers,butwhich were never constructed. A bill for rupees 8crores came up before Narayanaswamy. He inspected thebund. He found it very weak and said that he will passthe bill after the rainy season to ensure that thebund served the purpose. As expected the earthen bundwas too weak to stand the rain and it disappeared inthe rain. But he created a lot of enemies for saving 8crores public money.

The net result of all such unholy activities was thathe was asked to go on leave by the government. Latersuch an illustrious officer was posted as "StateCo-Ordinator, Quality Improvement Programme forSchools". This is what the politician will do to ahonest officer with backbone - post him in the mostpowerless position to teach him a lesson.

Since he found that nothing can be achieved for thepeople if he continued with the State Service he optedfor central service. But that too was denied on sometechnical ground. He took leave from Civil Service, and went toParis to take up an assignment of United Nations.After, the left Government under VS Achuthanandan tookpower, he was called back to service as the Kottayam District Collector.When the revenue encroachments in Idukki was spoted, the Left government appointed him as the District collector of Idukki. In Idukki, he exposed a Rs. 19 crore land scandal involving Kerala PWD Minister TU Kuruvila leading to the minister's resignation. However, on 25th September, Raju Narayana Swami was again shunted out from Idukki to Pathanamthitta as collector.

References

External links

* [http://www.indianexpress.com/story/214374.html Indian Express]
* [http://www.telegraphindia.com/1020919/asp/nation/story_1212976.asp Telegraph-India]
* [http://www.keralasahityaakademi.org/ Kerala Sahitya Akademi]