Have we forgotten Manjunath?:: Bhamy V Shenoy

Have we forgotten Manjunath?

It was less than a year back on November 19th, Manjunath Shanmugam,
an IIM graduate gave his life to the country while trying to expose
the corruption in petroleum marketing. For a month or so, his heroic
efforts to expose corruption caught the attention of the nation.
During the same time the nation remembered the sacrifice of
Satyendranath Dubey, an IIT graduate. Dubey was murdered two years
earlier for a similar noble cause of exposing corruption in highway
construction. The nation applauded their heroic deeds though there
were some cynics who wondered about their naïve attempts to fight
corruption.

Fighting corruption in petroleum sector was put on the national agenda
only for few days. It was ironical that within few days of the murder
of Manjunath the corruption charges against Satish Sharma the new
avatar of petroleum corruption were dropped. It was not because there
was not enough proof. It was just that the ministry did not want to
press charges! Is this the way to honor the memory of an idealist like
Manjunath?

The political class which is the beneficiaries of the highly
subsidized kerosene does not like to change the system. However the
murder of Manjunath changed that. At least that is what some of use
diehard optimists thought. First our Prime Minister Man Mohan Singh
assured the nation that he would ask the petroleum ministry to
streamline the pricing system to reduce incentives to defraud. It was
followed by a solemn assurance by the then Petroleum Minister Mani
Shankar Iyer. Every one believed that as a result of supreme sacrifice
of Manjunath, pricing anomaly of selling kerosene at highly subsidized
prices will be removed finally.

Time has proven us wrong. It has only worsened. The difference between
kerosene price and competitive products of petrol and diesel has only
widened over the year and so also the adulteration. Last July, there
was a national level seminar on curbing oil adulteration. Petroleum
Minister Murali Deora took part in that seminar. I made a detailed
presentation during the seminar quantifying the level of corruption in
petroleum sector.

I estimated it to be more than Rs. 40000 crores per year. My
presentation was dedicated to the memory of Manjunath, a gesture which
was well received. But the same participants failed to connect the
corruption that I was discussing with the reason for Manjunath’s
murder. I was pleading with the minister that there are better
foolproof ways of helping the poor with supplying kerosene. But the
minister was adamant that he would not touch kerosene price. I
challenged him by stating that any thing else he does will not solve
the root cause of corruption for which Manjunath had sacrificed his
life. Not one news paper carried this news item. Are we waiting for
some more sacrifices from upright officers like Manjunath?

Every one knows the real beneficiaries of kerosene subsidies. It is
the political class. Umpteen reports have proven the fact that poor
are not the beneficiaries. But no political party dare question the
petroleum pricing system since it is their members and financiers who
are minting money to the extent of Rs. 40000 crores per year. It is
that rotten system Manjunath had the idealism and courage to challenge.

If we want to show our appreciation for the noble deed of Manjunath,
as his death anniversary nears we as a nation need to do far more than
what we have done so far. His sacrifice will not amount to much unless
we uphold the principles for which he gave his life.

His last alma mater IIM Lucknow, his employer Indian Oil Company, and
SJCE at Mysore where he spent his formative years getting his
engineering degree have tried in their own ways to pay respects to his
memory. The trust started in his name has been able to collect less
than 50% of its target of Rs. 50 lakhs.

It is not clear why the trust has to pay the bills of lawyers fighting
the case on behalf of Manjnath’s family. His employer IOC should take
up the legal and moral responsibility of punishing the guilty. The
case is moving at snail’s speed despite it being an open and shut
case. IOC has instituted an award in the name of Manjunath for
honoring the best quality team. What an irony! It should have fought
in the first place to remove the pricing anomaly. There is no one to
champion such a dramatic reform.

A web based petition drive demanding for a full inquiry and justice in
the murder of Manjuanth has just got a total signature of 14200 till
the first week of Oct, 2006. Many who signed have suggested that to
honor Manjunath in real sense of the word, we need to get rid of the
current rotten pricing system. Otherwise his sacrifice would have been
in vain.

As the death anniversary nears, the government should seriously
consider implementing recommendations made by the planning commission
to streamline the pricing and remove all incentives to adulterate
petroleum products. They should also get rid of multi tier pricing of
LPG (LPG is sold at three different prices in residential, commercial
and automotive markets). LPG marketing is another activity where
corruption is rampant. The only lasting way we can honor Manjunath is
to start the process of unwinding kerosene subsidies and reduce
corruption.

Bhamy V Shenoy <bhamysuman@hotmail.com>