[ಕನ್ನಡ ಅನುವಾದ ಶೀಘ್ರದಲ್ಲೇ ಬರಲಿದೆ — Kannada translation coming soon]
Seminar on Whistle Blowing Act by MGP (Dec 2003) The ghastly murder of Satyendra Dubey on November 27th has caught the imagination of the media as well as some of the well informed people in India. This has brought to surface again the need for Whistle Blowing Act, a draft of which was submitted to the Parliament in 2002. It was titled Public Interest Disclosure (Protection of Informers) Bill 2002. But the parliament never took this matter. There have been TV shows, innumerable articles in magazines and newspapers, web sites, and even a Satyendra Dubey Foundation by NRIs dealing with this burning issue ever since Dubey’s murder. I am sure that there must be many Mysoreans who have been agitated by the indifference shown by the government to help those who are prepared to do their duty by trying to expose the wrong doings in their organizations.
MGP’s seminar on January 3rd is timely in that we will get to hear the need for whistle blowing activities from the city’s well known journalist K. B Ganapathy, the editor of Star Of Mysore and from the Principal District and Sessions judge G. V. Hegde. The latter will also deal with how legal framework is giving protection to such whistle blowers. It would have been fitting if only we had a chance to hear from the police department since they will be much helped by whistle blowers. The organizers have allocated enough time to interact with the speakers and express their views. The senseless murder of Dubey may turn out to be the tipping point. Our society may finally succeed in developing the right kind of system or environment to promote such whistle blowing activities. We have suffered enough from such mega scams like Bofors, PDS and kerosene black marketing, Telgi stamp case etc at national level At local lever we encounter every day corruption in MUDA, Corporation, police, RTO and every other government department. It is high time that we develop a system to give foolproof security to whistle blowers. Institutions like Lok Ayukta will not be effective unless we have such a system. Mysoreans will have a chance to contribute to such efforts by taking part in this seminar.