Rinku Singh Rahi is an Indian civil servant, known for her whistleblowing activities when she exposed the Rs 83 crore Muzaffarnagar Welfare Department scam in 2009. He is also known for securing 683 rank in the 2021 UPSC exam in his 16th attempt.
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Wiki/Biography
Rinku Singh Rahi was born on Thursday, 20 May 1982 (age 40 years; as in 2022) in Dori Nagar, Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh. In 1997, Rinku Singh Rahi completed his schooling from Naurangi Lal Government Inter College, Aligarh. In 2002, Rinku Rahi completed her graduation in B.Tech (Metallurgy) from National Institute of Technology, Jamshedpur. In 2015, Rinku earned a Master of Arts degree from Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU).
Family
Rinku Singh Rahi was born in a lower-middle-class family.
parents and siblings
His father’s name is Shivdan Singh. He has a small flour mill in Aligarh. His mother is a housewife.
Rinku Rahi’s family
His brother’s name is Dinesh Rahi. Dinesh is a former employee of UP government.
Rinku Rahi’s brother Dinesh Rahi
His sister’s name is Kalpana Rahi.
Rinku Rahi’s sister Kalpana Rahi
wife and children
Rinku Singh Rahi is married. He has a son.
Rinku Rahi during her wedding ceremony
livelihood
provincial civil service
After completing her graduation, in 2004, Rinku Singh Rahi appeared for the Uttar Pradesh Provincial Civil Services Examination (UP-PCS). Rinku passed both the written examination and interview in her first attempt. In 2008, Rinku Rahi was posted as District Social Welfare Officer (DSWO) in Muzaffarnagar Welfare Department.
informer
Only four months into her service as District Social Welfare Officer (DSWO) in the Muzaffarnagar Welfare Department, Rinku found several anomalies in the allocation and distribution of funds under several social service schemes while conducting an audit. Rinku also came to know that the Welfare Department has not held a meeting with the elected MPs and MLAs of Muzaffarnagar for a long time. The department openly violated the rules laid down by the UP government on several occasions. In 2008, Rinku also found that the department was embezzling funds that were allocated for the upliftment of families living below the poverty line. In 2008, Rinku Rahi exposed another scam in the old age pension scheme of the department. The audit revealed that the department had registered 62,447 people as beneficiaries of the pension scheme, while in reality the department had released an annual pension of Rs 3,600 to just 47,707 pensioners. As Rinku’s investigation progressed, she discovered that the department had wrongly mentioned in its record books the release of Rs 5.5 crore for the benefit of 22,000 OBC students and Rs 11 crore for the upliftment of BPL families living in Muzaffarnagar. . In 2009, days before the attack took place, Rinku Rahi had complained to District Magistrate (DM) Bhuvanish Kumar about discrepancies found in the department’s logbook. Rinku had also sent a letter to the director regarding the corruption prevalent in her department.
Attack on Rinku Rahi
On the morning of 26 March 2009, some armed assailants opened fire on Rinku Rahi while he was playing badminton at his residence. Rinku was shot seven times at close range. He was shot three times in the face and was also shot in the back of the skull. The attack on Rinku left her face permanently disfigured, complete loss of vision in her right eye and loss of hearing. While giving an interview, Rinku said,
This was a very difficult task due to the dominance of mafia and brokers and the interest in the schemes of the Social Welfare Department. They were in cahoots with my office staff, including an accountant, and when I refused to toe the line, I was fired while I was playing badminton at my residence in Muzaffarnagar. When I was being harassed, I was not fighting the system but the system was fighting me. I stayed in the hospital for four months. “My medical leave has not been approved yet.”
Rinku Rahi admitted to hospital after attack
After the attack, UP Police registered an FIR against the attackers. Later the police arrested nine conspirators including a Samajwadi Party leader named Mukesh Chaudhary. Police have also arrested Ashok Kashyap, assistant accountant of Muzaffarnagar Welfare Department. In an interview, Rinku Rahi said,
It was a brutal attack on 26 March 2009 when bullets were fired at me and I lost one eye, one ear and my jaw was damaged, leaving me physically disabled. I had to stay in the hospital for months but I fought and filed a case. The Muzaffarnagar court convicted everyone, including the then accountant of the District Social Welfare Office.
A newspaper cutting regarding the punishment of the accused who attacked Rinku Rahi
RTI activist
After being in the hospital for months, Rinku was discharged from the hospital in 2009. After her release, Rinku filed an RTI in an attempt to gather more information about the distribution of funds by the Muzaffarnagar Welfare Department between 2006 and 2009. The delay and unsatisfactory response of the Central Information Commission (CIC) frustrated Rinku Rahi as a result of which, in 2009, Rinku decided to go on a hunger strike in front of the assembly in Lucknow. He demanded that CIC should answer all his questions. In an interview he said,
I wanted to know where the unused money went. To know the details, I had filed an application under the RTI Act seeking the details. I have also asked for details about the beneficiaries but did not get complete details. I had also filed an appeal against it.
In 2010, Rinku Singh Rahi was posted as the District Social Welfare Officer in Bhadohi, and in 2012, he once again went on a hunger strike, demanding action from the UP government against the culprits in the 2009 welfare department scam. demanded. In 2012, after failing to convince Rinku to end her hunger strike, the UP government ordered the police to evict her by force and admit her to a psychiatric ward. Talking about this incident, Rinku said in an interview,
I was attacked during Mayawati’s rule and during Akhilesh’s rule I was sent to the psychiatric department because I spoke against corruption and corrupt practices. I presented the facts of the scam to senior officials of the department, but no one cooperated. “Even the information sought under the Right to Information Act has not been provided.”
Newspaper cutting from 2012 covering Rinku Rahi’s hunger strike
On 25 March 2012, Rinku Rahi sat on a one-day hunger strike in New Delhi along with social activist Anna Hazare. CIC responded to his RTI on 26 March 2012. Out of the five questions asked by Rinku, CIC could answer only two. Unhappy with the response, Rinku decided to launch a hunger strike in Lucknow, demanding that the CIC should answer all five of her questions. In 2012, Rinku Rahi was posted at three places in Uttar Pradesh, Shravasti, Lalitpur and Hapur.
Director of a coaching institute
In 2012, Rinku Rahi was deposed and sent to her hometown Aligarh. This act of the Samajwadi Party led UP government was criticized by Arvind Kejriwal, who accused the UP government of corruption, murder and attack. In Aligarh, Rinku was posted as the director of the government-run Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar IAS-PCS Pre-Exam Training Centre. Under his direction and guidance, many aspirants were able to qualify their UPSC exams. In an interview Rinku said,
However, it seems that the roots of corruption are very strong and it leads many people astray from the right path. Nevertheless, I continued on my path and while teaching the students, got positive energy from them which helped me achieve rank 683 in my 16th attempt (allowed for physically challenged people).
A local newspaper is giving information about the students who were selected from Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar IAS-PCS Exam Training Centre.
Union Public Service Commission
In June 2022, Rinku Rahi passed the UPSC exam in her 16th attempt; He secured 683rd rank.
Facts/General Knowledge
- Since Rinku Rahi was born in a poor family, her father could not afford her education in a convent school; Therefore, he had to study in a government school. In an interview Rinku said,
My father was good in studies but he had to leave studies to take care of the family. I grew up hearing these stories of exploitation and thought that if government officials were honest, we could have benefited from many schemes. This is what has kept me going.”
- Rinku was very good in studies since childhood. After completing his schooling, he was awarded a scholarship in 1998.
- In an interview, Rinku Rahi talked about the corruption prevalent in various departments under the Uttar Pradesh government. He said,
After the attack, I was sent to an unimportant place. I would have been killed because they still threatened me with dire consequences, but the government has not taken any action against them till date. Every year a scam of Rs 35 to 40 crore is committed in the department with the connivance of babus and those who oppose are either thrown out or intimidated.
- On several occasions he was offered huge sums of bribe, which Rinku refused to accept. While giving an interview, Rinku said,
It’s not like temptation didn’t knock at my door. But I knew that if I ever got involved in nefarious activities, someone else and their child could also be harmed.
- To make public all the evidence of the scams he has exposed, Rinku uses various social media platforms, where he uploads relevant documents related to the scams. Talking about this in an interview he said,
I have also learned how to handle these issues in a better way. I had all the evidence of the scam at the time of the attack. So with my death all evidence will be immediately erased. But now I make all my observations in a very transparent manner and post them on social media.
- As the director of an IAS-PCS coaching institute in Aligarh, Rinku Rahi used to provide twenty hours of tuition every day to aspiring UPSC aspirants.
- Rinku has been working with the organization We The People since 2012, working for the enforcement and protection of constitutional rights of the citizens of India.
Categories: Biography
Source: vcmp.edu.vn