"District collector, U. Sagayam of
Madurai, Tamil Nadu - By
refusing to take bribes, the
Madurai collector has earned 18
transfers in 20 years, a modest
house and bank balance and lots
of respect"
Three years ago, as district
collector of Namakkal, Tamil
Nadu, U. Sagayam voluntarily
declared his assets: a bank
balance of Rs 7,172 and a house
in Madurai worth Rs 9 lakh.
Once, when his baby daughter,
Yalini, who had breathing
problems, was suddenly taken ill,
he did not have the Rs 5,000
needed for admitting her to a
private hospital. At that time he
was deputy commissioner (excise)
in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, and
there were 650 liquor licences to
be given out. The going bribe for
each was rumoured to be Rs
10,000.
(He needs a special mention here
because the assets of an IAS
officer-couple in Madhya Pradesh
were valued at Rs 360 crore. They
had 25 flats in three cities)
'Reject bribes, hold your head
high', says a board hanging above
Sagayam’s chair in his modest
office. That’s the code he lives by,
even if politicians are incensed
they cannot bend him their way—
he’s been transferred 18 times in
the last 20 years—and has made
enemies of both superiors and
subordinates. “I know I sit under
a dangerous slogan and probably
alienate people,” he says. “But I
have been the same Sagayam
from Day 1. Standing up against
corruption is not for a season.
Nor is it a fad. It’s forever”, he
says.
On a hot summer afternoon, on
Madurai’s busy main road, the
district collector, U. Sagayam, saw
a young man talking on a
cellphone while riding a
motorbike. He asked his driver to
wave the man down, got down
from his car and meted out
instant punishment: plant 10
saplings within 24 hours.
Somewhat unconventional justice,
some might say. But that’s how
Sagayam works.
He also took on a mighty soft-
drink mnc when a consumer
showed him a bottle with dirt
floating in it. He sealed the
bottling unit and banned the sale
of the soft drink in the city. In
Chennai, he locked horns with a
restaurant chain and recovered
four acres valued at some Rs 200
crore.
Sagayam’s masters degrees in
social work and law come in
useful in his role as an
administrator. He knows the
rulebooks in detail and is not
afraid of using them, however
powerful the opponent. No
wonder then that Sagayam’s
career is marked with the scars of
countless battles.
Sagayam’s wife Vimala has stood
by him all these years but she was
rattled by some of the threats
during the elections. “He always
says if you are right, nobody can
hurt you,” she says. “But
sometimes it becomes difficult.”
Sagayam says he learnt honesty
on his mother’s knees.
Hats off to him
Share it with others.
Madurai, Tamil Nadu - By
refusing to take bribes, the
Madurai collector has earned 18
transfers in 20 years, a modest
house and bank balance and lots
of respect"
Three years ago, as district
collector of Namakkal, Tamil
Nadu, U. Sagayam voluntarily
declared his assets: a bank
balance of Rs 7,172 and a house
in Madurai worth Rs 9 lakh.
Once, when his baby daughter,
Yalini, who had breathing
problems, was suddenly taken ill,
he did not have the Rs 5,000
needed for admitting her to a
private hospital. At that time he
was deputy commissioner (excise)
in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, and
there were 650 liquor licences to
be given out. The going bribe for
each was rumoured to be Rs
10,000.
(He needs a special mention here
because the assets of an IAS
officer-couple in Madhya Pradesh
were valued at Rs 360 crore. They
had 25 flats in three cities)
'Reject bribes, hold your head
high', says a board hanging above
Sagayam’s chair in his modest
office. That’s the code he lives by,
even if politicians are incensed
they cannot bend him their way—
he’s been transferred 18 times in
the last 20 years—and has made
enemies of both superiors and
subordinates. “I know I sit under
a dangerous slogan and probably
alienate people,” he says. “But I
have been the same Sagayam
from Day 1. Standing up against
corruption is not for a season.
Nor is it a fad. It’s forever”, he
says.
On a hot summer afternoon, on
Madurai’s busy main road, the
district collector, U. Sagayam, saw
a young man talking on a
cellphone while riding a
motorbike. He asked his driver to
wave the man down, got down
from his car and meted out
instant punishment: plant 10
saplings within 24 hours.
Somewhat unconventional justice,
some might say. But that’s how
Sagayam works.
He also took on a mighty soft-
drink mnc when a consumer
showed him a bottle with dirt
floating in it. He sealed the
bottling unit and banned the sale
of the soft drink in the city. In
Chennai, he locked horns with a
restaurant chain and recovered
four acres valued at some Rs 200
crore.
Sagayam’s masters degrees in
social work and law come in
useful in his role as an
administrator. He knows the
rulebooks in detail and is not
afraid of using them, however
powerful the opponent. No
wonder then that Sagayam’s
career is marked with the scars of
countless battles.
Sagayam’s wife Vimala has stood
by him all these years but she was
rattled by some of the threats
during the elections. “He always
says if you are right, nobody can
hurt you,” she says. “But
sometimes it becomes difficult.”
Sagayam says he learnt honesty
on his mother’s knees.
Hats off to him
Share it with others.
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