Rinkoo Singh Rahee is an Indian civil servant known for his whistle-blowing activities, who in 2009 exposed the Rs 83-crore scam at the Muzaffarnagar Welfare Department. He is also known for securing the 683rd rank in the 2021 UPSC exam in his 16th attempt.
Wiki/Biography
Rinkoo Singh Rahee was born on Thursday, May 20, 1982, in Doli Nagar, Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh (40 years; as of 2022). Rinkoo Singh Rahee completed his education from Naurangi Lal Government Inter College, Aligarh in 1997. In 2002, Rinkoo Rahee completed his graduation in BTech (Metallurgy) from National Institute of Technology, Jamshedpur. In 2015, Rinkoo received his Master of Arts degree from Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU).
family
Rinkoo Singh Rahee was born into a lower-middle-class family.
Parents and siblings
His father’s name is Shivdan Singh. He owned a small flour mill in Aligarh. His mother is a housewife.
Rinkoo Rahee’s family
His brother’s name is Dinesh Rahee. Dinesh is a former employee of the Uttar Pradesh government.
Rinkoo Rahee’s younger brother Dinesh Rahee
His sister is Kalpana Rahee.
Rinkoo Rahee’s sister Kalpana Rahee
wife and children
Rinkoo Singh Rahee got married. He has a son.
Rinkoo Rahee at his wedding ceremony
Profession
Provincial civil servant
After graduation in 2004, Rinkoo Singh Rahee appeared for the Uttar Pradesh Provincial Civil Services Examination (UP-PCS). Rinkoo passed the written test and interview on the first try. In 2008, Rinkoo Rahee was appointed as District Social Welfare Officer (DSWO), Muzaffarnagar Welfare Department.
whistleblower
Just four months into his tenure as District Social Welfare Officer (DSWO) in the Muzaffarnagar Welfare Department, Rinkoo came across some discrepancies in allocation and distribution of funds across multiple social service schemes while conducting an audit. Rinkoo also found that the Welfare Department has not held meetings with elected MLAs and MLAs from Muzaffarnagar for a long time. The department has openly violated the rules laid down by the Uttar Pradesh government on several occasions. In 2008, Rinkoo also discovered that the department had misappropriated funds intended to improve the living standards of families living below the poverty line. In 2008, Rinkoo Rahee exposed another scam in the department’s age pension scheme. The audit revealed that the department had registered 62,447 people as beneficiaries of the pension scheme, while in fact, the department had only disbursed annual pension of Rs 3,600 to 47,707 pensioners. As Rinkoo’s investigation progressed, he found that the department had wrongly mentioned in its record books that Rs 55 crore was released for the benefit of 22,000 OBC students and Rs 11 crore for the living standard of BPL families living in Muzaffarnagar . In 2009, just days before he was attacked, Rinkoo Rahee complained to District Magistrate (DM) Bhuvneesh Kumar over discrepancies found in departmental diaries. Rinkoo also sent a letter to its department heads regarding widespread corruption.
Attack Rinkoo Rahee
On the morning of March 26, 2009, several armed assailants opened fire on Rinkoo Rahee while he was playing badminton at his residence. Rinkoo was shot seven times at close range. He was shot three times in the face and once in the back of the head. Rinkoo’s attack left him with permanent facial disfigurement, complete loss of vision in his right eye and damaged hearing. Rinkoo said in an interview,
It is a very difficult job as the mafia and touts dominate and are interested in the schemes of the social welfare sector. They were with my office staff (including an accountant) and I was fired while playing badminton at my residence in Muzaffarnagar when I refused to follow the rules. When I’m harassed, it’s not me against the system, it’s the system against me. I was in the hospital for four months. My sick leave has not been approved yet. “
Rinkoo Rahee in hospital after attack
After the attack, the Uttar Pradesh police lodged an FIR against the attackers. The police subsequently arrested nine conspirators, including Samajwadi Party leader Mukesh Chaudhary. The police also arrested Ashok Kashyap, assistant accountant of Muzaffarnagar Welfare Department. Rinkoo Rahee said in an interview,
It was a brutal attack on March 26, 2009. A bullet entered my body and I lost an eye, an ear and an injury to my jaw that left me physically disabled. I had to be hospitalized for several months but continued to fight and file suit. A Muzaffarnagar court convicted the persons, who included the then accountant of the district social welfare office. “
Newspaper clippings regarding the sentencing of defendants who attacked Rinkoo Rahee
RTI activist
After several months in the hospital, Rinkoo was discharged in 2009. After his discharge, Rinkoo filed an RTI to gather more information about the disbursement of funds to the Muzaffarnagar Welfare Department between 2006 and 2009. Frustrated by the slow and unsatisfactory response from the Central Information Commission (CIC), Rinkoo Rahee decided to go on a hunger strike in front of the Lucknow Assembly in 2009. He asked CIC to answer all his questions. He said in an interview,
I wonder where the unused funds go. To know the details, I filed an application under the RTI Act seeking details. I also asked for details about the beneficiaries but did not receive full details. I also appealed this. “
In 2010, Rinkoo Singh Rahee was appointed as Badoshi district social welfare officer. In 2012, he went on hunger strike again to demand that the Uttar Pradesh government crack down on the perpetrators of the 2009 Welfare Department scam. In 2012, the Uttar Pradesh government ordered the police to forcibly deport Rinkoo and send him to a psychiatric ward after failing to persuade him to end his hunger strike. Speaking about the incident, Rinkoo said in an interview,
I was attacked during the Mayawati regime and was admitted to a psychiatric unit during the Akhilesh regime because I had spoken out against corruption and corrupt practices. I presented the facts of the scam to senior officials in the department, but they were uncooperative. Even the information sought under the Right to Information Act was not provided. “
Newspaper clippings covering Rinkoo Rahee’s hunger strike in 2012
On March 25, 2012, Rinkoo Rahee and social activist Anna Hazare went on a one-day hunger strike in New Delhi. The CIC responded to his RTI on March 26, 2012. Of the five questions asked by Rinkoo, CIC could only answer two. Not satisfied with the reply, Rinkoo decided to start a hunger strike in Lucknow demanding that the CIC must answer all five of his questions. In 2012, Rinkoo Rahee was posted to three places in Uttar Pradesh, Shravasti, Lalitpur and Hapur.
Dean of a coaching institution
In 2012, Rinkoo Rahee was sent back to his hometown in Aligarh. This action by the Samajjadwadi Party-led Northern Alliance government was criticized by Arvind Kejriwal, who accused the Northern Alliance government of corruption, murder and attacks. In Aligarh, Rinkoo has been appointed as the director of the government-run Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar IAS-PCS pre-exam coaching centre. Under his guidance and guidance, many aspiring candidates were able to crack the UPSC examination. Rinkoo said in an interview,
However, corruption seems to have very strong roots and is causing many people to deviate from the right path. Nonetheless, I continued on my way and felt positive energy from the students while teaching them, which helped me secure a rank of 683 (those with physical disabilities allowed) in my 16th attempt. “
Local newspapers reported on the situation of students selected from Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar’s IAS-PCS Pre-Exam Training Centre.
UPSC
In June 2022, Rinkoo Rahee passed the UPSC exam in the 16th attempt; he secured a rank of 683.
Facts/Trivia
- Since Rinkoo Rahee was born into a poor family, his father could not afford his tuition at a convent school; therefore, he had to study in a public school. Rinkoo said in an interview,
My father did well in school but had to drop out of school to take care of the family. I grew up hearing these stories of exploitation and I think we could have benefited from several programs if government officials had been honest. That’s been my motivation all along. “
- Rinkoo has studied well since he was a child. After completing his studies in 1998, he received a scholarship.
- In an interview, Rinkoo Rahee spoke about the widespread corruption in various departments of the Uttar Pradesh government. He said,
After the attack, I was sent to a place of insignificance. I would have been killed because they are still threatening me with dire consequences but the government has not taken any action against them so far. Every year, babus in the sector are defrauded of Rs 35-40 crore and those who object are either chased away or intimidated. “
- He was offered huge bribes on several occasions, but Rinkoo refused to accept them. Rinkoo said in an interview,
That’s not to say temptation hasn’t knocked on my door. But I know that if I participate in evil activities, other people and their children may suffer too. “
- In order to publicize all evidence of the scam he exposed, Rinkoo used various social media platforms to upload relevant documents related to the scam. In an interview, he spoke about this and said:
I also learned how to deal with these issues better. All the evidence of the scam was with me at the time of the attack. So my death would quickly eliminate all evidence. But now I present 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, Rinkoo Rahee used to provide tuition to aspiring UPSC candidates for twenty hours a day.
- Rinkoo has been working with We The People since 2012, an organization that works to enforce and protect the constitutional rights of Indian citizens.
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education