Corruption in India is an ubiquitous phenomenon that sadly enough, percolates into practically every sphere of our daily lives. It is a hydra-headed monster that seemingly refuses to be quelled.
Perhaps this was what motivated 33-year-old Rajender Palnati to decide to take on the menace. People recognised the corruption they saw every day, but didn’t feel empowered to be able to change things, he explains.
Believing that youth remained the strongest weapon in the fight against this monster, he established an organisation to tackle corruption across the two states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Youth for Anti Corruption (YAC) came into being a decade ago.
One of the NGO’s many success stories was when pictures of documents attached to bundles of cash on social media created a sensation. The source of the images taken by a member of the NGO during a sting operation, were believed to be from the Road Transport Authority (RTA) at Patancheru in Hyderabad.
Their work encouraged the former CBI Joint Director V.V. Lakshminarayana to join the organisation in 2015. Interestingly, it was he who had handled investigations in the Obulapuram mining case, in which the Bellary Reddy brothers were accused of indulging in illegal mining, and the case of financial fraud by Byrraju Ramalingaraju of Satyam Computers, among others.
The soft spoken, but tough cop believes that youth can reform themselves to fight corruption. “These youngsters are contributing their bit in eradicating corruption from Andhra and Telangana,” he says.
Other bureaucrats like Principal Secretary Ajay Misra, Akunuri Murali Director General, state archives and education department, Telangana and Telangana ACB D.G. Purnachandra Rao also lend support to YAC.
Run by over 55,000 members in AP and Telangana including 11 IAS and IPS officers, the non-government body has so far succeeded in suspension of 22 corrupt officials.
Ajay Misra, who has been associated with the organisation for the last two-three years says, “These youngsters are sincere and non political. ” According to Akunuri Murali, it needs guts to support such organisations. “90 per cent of government officials are corrupt, they will not support them. We can’t go against the system,” he feels.
