Who Won?

Scams are not new to us. Every other day the media exposes a major scam with grand levels of corruption. The news comes as a shock first, slowly takes the shape of frustration and helplessness and ends up with you playing with the TV remote to land up in some MTV Roadies or a movie. On the other hand it is but rare for us to come across people who, with sheer grit and against all odds, have done their bit to expose a scam. I came across two such individuals in the recent past. One is a male; The other a female. Both unassuming. Both have had their share of bitter days during their pursuit of the rotten eggs. One of them had worked with a very critical Central agency somewhere in the Eastern side of our country. A part of his job included monitoring the performance of a few topmost NGOs that were tied up to massive foreign funds from a few UN Agencies. Those of us who are even slightly familiar with the way the NGOs function can pretty well appreciate the fact that some of the NGOs/trusts give a tough competition to the Government when it comes to the level of corruption and siphoning of funds. Our man here, a novice then, was a little shaken when he stumbled upon a few facts that tended to expose the murky face of one of the most famous NGOs of our country.

Disbelievingly, at the same time being fair to his duty, he collected the dirty facts needed to seal the case. And as with any other important report, he did not trust anyone else while giving shape to all those evidences and facts he had painstakingly collected. He sat through the nights to stitch that solid report that had the potential to shatter the image of one of the "best" NGOs here. Now he needed the bosses - only the bosses and not any middlemen - to take note of the report. He did mail the report one of his trusted big bosses who takes his review. The big boss gave our man a pat on the back. She was not able to locate any gaps in the report. She had a great case. Our man had a good night's sleep.

A few days after an urgent meeting of the bigger bosses an order knocks our man's doors. He gets his air ticket booked to Srinagar. Calls up Movers 'n' Packers to find out if they operate out of J&K. Interestingly that Agency did not have any office in Srinagar at that time. Our man was to work out of a hotel room. As a consolation he was permitted to take some help from the state government when in need.

A few months later, the high-profile head of the NGO steals the headlines for winning some XYZ international award for some tremendous contribution at the grass root level.

A few more months later our man quits the job after landing himself in a better job - nothing new.

But leaves back a newly-built office in Srinagar!