Whistling in the dark

Would a Satyendra Dubey find himself more secure now if he wrote a letter to the PM alleging serious corruption in the implementation of an important national project? We are asking this question almost four years after the young, idealistic engineer had paid with his life for doing precisely this. Are the whistleblowers of the country more protected now, after the outrage that marked Dubey8217;s murder, after various court strictures and governmental assurances and after the ministry of personnel came up with the Public Interest Disclosures and Protection of Informers8217; Resolution, a mechanism under which the Central Vigilance Commission CVC was named the designated authority to look into their complaints. The answer? Not really. We have just reported that of the 1301 complaints received by the CVC, there have been at least 30 cases of whistleblowers having been targeted in some way for their actions.

This record speaks for itself. Sherron Watkins, whose expose of Kenneth Lay8217;s creative accounting practices consigned mighty Enron to oblivion, once observed that whistleblowing is a 8220;lonely road to take8221;. The point, however, is that if such action is in society8217;s interest, it is incumbent upon the system to ensure that all whistleblowers are provided with a protection regime that is efficacious and is seen by them to be so. Countries that are committed to fighting corruption are committed to protecting their whistleblowers. Post-Enron America saw sweeping reforms to achieve this, which included the passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act that sought to protect employees of public companies from vindictive action.

India has still not got around to enacting a comprehensive legislation on the subject, although one is on the anvil. But legislation itself is of little use if it lacks a supportive culture. Like right to information, protecting the whistleblower is ultimately about encouraging free flow of information. There will always be powerful interests, within the bureaucracy and outside it, looking to stem it. Which is just one more reason why India needs to get serious about protecting its whistleblowers.