Arbaaz Khan
Chandigarh: Even a small effort can go a long way in changing the society, it was proved by Rajinder K Singla, an RTI activist, who with the help of RTI exposed the ongoing scams in Panjab University and many educational institutions in and around Chandigarh.
Hailing from Mansa, Rajinder Singla moved to Chandigarh after passing class 10 for pursuing his further studies in Chandigarh. Studied B.Sc Medical from Government College of Sector 11 and then M.Sc Botany, Ph.D and LL.B from Panjab University. After this, he started living his life as a teacher.
Singla narrated the educational corruption and scams he encountered through his journey of life as a teacher. He told ,” The appointment in Malwa College, Samrala, Punjab, was under the UGC's scheme for vocationalisation of education. He discovered that the college misused public funds and raised his voice against it. The course was shut down and the UGC recovered the grant from the college. But the entire controversy cost him the first job.
He also added about second job - at the country's premier Lawrence School at Sanawar in Himachal Pradesh - too ended abruptly after he sought information about the educational qualifications of the teachers at the school, their pay scales and some school rules. The school declined him the information under the RTI Act and the issue reached Central Information Commission (CIC). In 2008, the CIC directed the school to provide him the information after declaring it a public authority. The matter is now pending adjudication before the Himachal Pradesh High Court at Shimla
He also joined DAV College in Sector 10, Chandigarh as a Botany lecturer. The Sanawar school administration contacted the DAV management and created pressure. From here too he was shown the way out. He told, “From then on, it was felt that he would expose the scams of educational institutions in and around Chandigarh. It became difficult for them to save their nose by washing their hands behind these institutions and there was a lot of trouble after the scams came to the fore.
Besides many other awards in recognition of his RTI work, he received the Jindal Prize-2011 for his crusade against corruption in education using RTI Act in a function organized by Jindal Foundation in Delhi. Award carried a cash amount of rupees ten lakh. The same organization also honored Abdul Kalam, Anna Hazare, Justice Santosh Hegde and Manish Sisodia.
Even today, Rajinder Singla is keeping a close watch on scams flourishing in the institutions of higher learning in Chandigarh and surrounding states, himself pleading his cases in courts and Commissions, in the public interest at large.