India rates highest in road accidents 
India has the highest number of road accidents in the world.With over 130,000 deaths annually, the country has overtaken China and now has the worst road traffic accident rate   The total number of deaths every year due to road accidents has now passed the 135,000 mark, according to the latest report of National Crime Records Bureau or NCRB. Road accidents are a human tragedy. It involves high human suffering and socio-economic costs in terms of premature deaths, injuries, loss of productivity etc. The problem of road safety remains acute in India. During the year 2011, there were around 4.98 lakh road accidents, which killed 1.42 lakh people and injured more than 5 lakh persons, many of whom are disabled for rest of their lives. These numbers translate into one road accident every minute, and one road accident death in less than four minutes. Sadly, many of these victims are young people, those who are economically active.

While trucks and two-wheelers were responsible for over 40 per cent of deaths, peak traffic during the afternoon and evening rush hours is the most dangerous time to be on the roads.  Drunken driving is  a major factor for road accidents .Campaigns against drunken driving have not proved effective. 

Out of the estimated 1.4 million serious road accidents/collisions occurring annually in India, hardly 0.4 million are recorded. Further, only a minimal percentage of these collisions are scientifically investigated, in the absence of which, the real causes and consequences are never known. Therefore remedial measures as well as punishment for the violators are also arbitrary. On account of various political and socio-economic conditions, generally, the larger vehicles are often labelled the culprit in cases of vehicle-to-vehicle crashes. Road safety can only be improved when we understand the causes and consequences of road accidents/collisions so as to work out remedial measures.

WHAT I CAN DO

1.  even if the lights are green, on amber blinkers or more importantly if there are no lights. Make sure there are no speeding vehicles approaching the junction. If there are any, wait for them to pass.Never overtake the vehicle from the wrong side.
2. Car drivers must wear a seat-belt, and bikers a helmet - even if you're only planning to travel a short distance. Most accident fatalities occur due to head and neck injuries, and a seat-belt/helmet provides a level of protection from these.
3. If you are involved in a high-speed crash and are injured but conscious, do not move with a jerk or let anyone else move you forcibly. Remain calm, move out of the vehicle slowly and try to evaluate your injuries. 
4. Never  be under intoxication while you drive. You are the custodian of so many lives and life is precious

SOME FACTS

• 80% victims do not receive any medical care within the  golden time
• Road accidents in India are the leading cause of death in the age group 15-40, the most productive section of society.
• Bystanders are unable to provide any help due to fear of legal hassles and lack of training.
• Police is the first to respond in most cases but untrained to provide even basic first-aid to victims.

What can I do?

1. If you witness or come across an accident, the least you can do is call the Police and ambulance service.
2. learn how to help accident victims.
3. Drive responsibly. An accident can change your life forever.
4. Be mindful of emergency vehicles. Always give way to them.

Sinner has a future

Let me introduce Mr. Neil Johnson; a staff clerk attached to a big branch in Mumbai. When I was posted there a decade back, I could find only diagonal red marks in the muster roll against his name. It was very difficult to see him in the bank like elected representatives in the parliament. He was running on loss of pay due to the continuous absenteeism. When he lost money in stock market he became an alcoholic addict. When he became an addict, he became a stranger to the branch and ultimately to his family also. Debts mounted and he wanted to run away from life. The staff members tried to put him back to the track, but failed. I got a couple of calls from his wife and she unfolded the miseries, the financial hardship, strained family bondage, insecurity at all levels etc. I decided to interfere earnestly.

Somehow I succeeded finally in grabbing Mr. Neil before me. I asked him why he failed to call upon me in spite of repeated requests. He told that he had wanted to come in a sober condition, but unfortunately he was not able to skip liquor. I talked about his wife, the children: a girl and a boy in high school, his profession facing departmental action, indebtedness, his wife struggling hard to make both ends meet and all, but he was not hearing anything and continued to gaze aimlessly. I did not give up my efforts. I went to him over and over again and he also came to me sometimes. Finally he wanted himself to be changed. A good start I thought. His friends helped him and got him admitted in a de addiction centre run by the Christian Missionary. After a long gap of 45 days he reported for duty. He started working hard and was getting all support from all corners. He cleared the Banking examinations (CAIIB Part II). I advised him to appear for the Officers’ written examinations which he cleared and fared well in the interview also. He got promoted. I assisted him in getting a good department in the Head Office. The reports about him continued to be encouraging. He got metamorphosed into a hardworking and trustworthy officer. Gradually all his problems subsided. His wife remained more engaged domestically. His children scored good marks. Their financial position was also gradually stabilized.

On the Christmas day I received a cake with macerated nuts from Neil’s family with a card along with which read ‘You are one among our family. You brought peace and happiness back to our home. The lady of the house got her husband back and the children their father’. For a while I thought. “Every saint has a past and sinner a future”.

The Missing Bond and the Baba

The Bank’s Stock Exchange branch. This happened some 7 years back. The Stock Brokers used to get finance from the branch by pledging various valuable documents. A major share broker had pledged R B I Bonds valued at Rs 5 crores and he wanted to take back the bond by paying off the loan. The officer concerned Mr. Nirmal Jain closed the loan account and then searched for the bond to be returned. Surprisingly to him and later to other staff members of the branch the bond was missing from the vault. The vaults were searched again and again. The customer became restless and was about to collapse. As per the records of the bank the bond was there some 4 months ago while the branch got audited by the statutory auditors during the annual closing. The broker customer got wild and was showering all kind of abuses. I assured him the value of the bond since the fault was on the part of the bank. I requested him a week’s time to settle the matter. He cautioned me with his contemptuous look which I was not prepared to explore further.

The whole branch situated in three floors was again subjected to a total scan, but not a trace of the miraculously vanished bond. I was sure that none of the staff member can afford to steal it and that was my belief. Then the question is whether the outsiders played a role and got it encashed? Because it was a bearer bond just like Indira Vikas Patra anybody could attempt for a quick treasure. The matter was informed to the RBI and the procedures usually take a couple of days or weeks to publish caution. In the meantime if some miscreants encashed the bond then the exercise would be futile. The officer responsible for the loss was tremendously under pressure from all sides and I was informed that he thought of ending the life even. I advised him that nothing would happen to him and the bond will be recovered. (I don’t know what prompted me to tell like that. From where the Bond will reappear? From Heaven? Who will recover the bond? James Bond?).

Mr Rane, a staff member and a devotee of Lord Ganesha told me that he had been to a Baba, a divine person who advised him that the Missing Bond is inside the building only. The Baba had given a sketch of the place where the subject was still lying. I went through the piece of paper and as per the drawing the location marked is the place where one of the Chief Manager’s cabin was housed and we have not left out that place also. I told Mr Rane that the place was also searched including the chest of drawers, cupboard, table etc but nothing emerged. On the next day also Mr Rane came to me and said that again he had been to the Holy person who reiterated the advice. We searched again leaving no space with any result. Mr. Rane repeated on the next day and further said that the Baba cannot go wrong as he himself had some experience. He insisted me to meet him and I did. The Baba was telling me the location of the branch, and the lay out etc and finally he assured me that the missing subject is intact and I have to search it in the area he had specified earlier.

Next day I intensified the search in the cabin specified. Again the chest of drawers, table, cupboard and so on. Another sub staff member Mr. Pandit opened the drawers from the chest one by one. The contents therein did not contain the required stuff. For an hour the exercise continued. I told Mr.Pandit to pull out the drawer and separate from the chest. The contents were again verified. The third drawer was not coming out from the runner after unlocking. After removing the last drawer the inner space of the table was again searched. Mr Pandit put his whole body inside the steel cavity and found an envelope sticking or entangled on the slotted angle behind. From the envelope came the Bond. The Bond that was awarding sleepless nights to the branch staff was smiling at us from the envelope. I searched my purse and took an Rs 500 currency note and instantly rewarded to Mr. Pandit. The tension was relieved. All the staff had a sigh of relief. The earlier Supervisory Officer would have called for the bond or would have tendered to the auditors and subsequently kept in the drawer. This Bond might have spilled out from the drawer falling to its inner back. I decided to meet the Baba on the day itself.

MEN BEHIND THE WHEELS

Year 2004. After a three year tenure in Kolkata I came back to Mumbai and was assigned a senior position in the most volatile and exceptionally large branch-Stock Exchange Branch. The Bank’s association with the Bombay Stock Exchange Ltd spans over a period of more than 8 decades with the clearing and settlement functions of the BSE Ltd. The operation in this branch is very specialized in nature and the branch maintains accounts of number of stock brokers. The branch was powered with more than 150 staff members and the day starts very early in the branch and closes very late. It is a matter of high relief if the day ends without any problem whether big or small. It was possible to surface fraud at any time due to the nature of the business transactions the branch was handling. The infamous Harshad Mehta and Ketan Parekh scams had really caused certain contusion to the branch earlier

When I reported to the branch, a couple of fraud cases were pending unresolved and the amount involved was few lacs. The account holders complained about the loss of money through fraudulent withdrawals and the option left to the bank was to reimburse the amount if found an element of fraud in the matter. The amount thus fraudulently withdrawn by unscrupulous persons even if at the cost of negligence of the account holders, has to be repaid by the bank. I decided to take up two such unsolved cases. In both the cases the complaints were pending and the parties were pressing the management for early settlement. One such complaint was from Mrs.Kukreja, a Senior Vice President of a multinational financial company from whose account few lacs were fraudulently withdrawn by unknown persons at different intervals. Her uncle was a major share broker of Bombay Stock Exchange. On a scrutiny of her account it was found that the amounts were withdrawn intermittently within a period of one year in multiples of thousands using cheque leaves from four different cheque books issued to the account holder. It was an error on the part of the bank to issue fresh cheque books without monitoring the status of the earlier cheque books issued. There were 10-12 such bearer cheques debited to the account and all the cheques were written by the same person as it appeared from the handwriting. The signatures of the recipients on the back of the cheques though were considerably varying but the style of the signatures remained more or less alike. Each time the amount withdrawn was between Rs 10000 to 20000.

After interrogating Mrs Kukreja at length, it was revealed that the leaves from the cheque books were stolen either from her car or from her office. She keeps the cheque books in her purse which travels along with her. Sometimes she forgets the purse in the car and the driver used to bring it to her. Her office peons and the driver were the prime suspects. The driver Mr Pande aged about 35 years had been with her for about 13 years and was above all suspicions. So I concentrated on few staff working in Mrs . Kukreja’s office. The writings on the cheques did not match with that of anyone’s writings in the office. The investigation into the other aspects like their style of living, acquisition of moveable properties or other investments etc did not fetch any result.

I advised Mrs. Kukreja to send Mr Pande to my office. Her outburst then followed. She told me that the driver cannot read or write English and how he can fill up the cheques in English and moreover he is like a member in their family. But I insisted and told her that the next option may be to file an FIR which would unnecessary bring inconvenience to all and finally she unwillingly agreed. Mr. Pande a humble looking person narrated to me everything about his family, his nature of work, and how much he takes care of his employer etc. I told him that one of the cashiers had noticed him encashing the cheque from Mrs Kukreja’s account. He broke into tears stating that there is no need for him to do things like that as his madam would generously part any amount for a matter of urgency if requested. He also told that he does not have any bank account. I allowed him to go. In the meantime I directed my staff officer Mr. Hari to follow him and report. Later Mr. Hari appraised me that Mr Pande went to a staff member working in a broker‘s firm and was talking for more than an hour and both were found disturbed. The staff member was later identified as one Mr Dubey working with the uncle (A share broker) of Mrs. Kukreja in the stock exchange building. Mr Dubey was also maintaining a savings account with the branch. Mr Dubey’s handwriting from his own cheques was compared with that of the defrauded instruments and proved to be identical. The recipients of the cash had put different illegible signatures all the time keeping the style and pattern same. The handwriting expert also confirmed that all the signatures put differently are by one and the same person.

Mr Pande accepted the guilt. He was stealing the cheque leaves and handing over to Mr Dubey who was filling it up and passing back for encashment. Mr pande collected the cash sharing a portion with Mr. Dubey. Mrs Kukreja and her uncle were called to the branch and the whole family appeared. At last while Mr Dubey was called we had kept Mr Pande separately. Mr Dubey refused his role, but when Mr. Pande appeared, the scene changed. Mr Dubey observed silence. The Kukreja family bounced upon the duo and we interfered. Both the culprits agreed to pay the amount. Mrs Kukreja got her money back. I told her to be careful with the bank instruments. Her negligence contributed the untoward incident. The happy Mrs. Kukreja then transferred a heavy amount to the branch for a long term deposit. She wrote a letter to the Chairman of the Bank which read...” I lost faith in your Bank one year back. I regained it now due to the timely and dedicated action of……..”

The second case was also similar in nature but the amount was fraudulently transferred twice from the account of a share broker to a local cooperative bank account belonging to a Christian religious zealot. The religious person told me that one innocent looking Tamil youth requested him to extend help by depositing cheques in his account and pay the money. He obliged the youth as the latter was not keeping any bank account. The youth entrusted two cheques worth few lacs stating that his master lend the amount towards purchasing an apartment in the outskirt and he got the cheques written favouring the Christian friend. After clearing the cheques the preacher withdrew the amount in full and entrusted the youth. A detailed probe cleared the gullible Christian missionary from any involvement. The stock broker approached me enquiring about the progress in the case. ‘Where is your driver?’ I enquired. The share broker told me that he is on leave and had gone to his native place in Tamil nadu. “Get him; he took the cheque leaf from your book and encashed.” For reasons known to him the broker withdrew the complaint next day.

A CBI DIARY NOTE

From 1977 to 1985 I worked for the C B I Kerala Branch. The jurisdiction of the Agency was the whole of Kerala State and Lakshadweep. The Branch was having Investigation experts with impeccable integrity and we were having quite a good number of cases from central Government Establishments, Public sector Undertakings etc. Besides Investigation task I was in charge of the HQ Administration also. I was getting number of complaints from my home town Calicut alleging corrupt practices in the recruitment to Armed Forces. The allegations were centering on the Branch Recruitment Officials and a series of touts and the daily newspapers were religiously publicizing instances of bribery and unhealthy practices in the recruitment field. Number of intermediaries was mushrooming and they were collecting hefty sums from the aspirants but absolutely no evidence the correspondents could adduce linking the touts with the public servants. Since the Branch was the Anti Corruption Wing of the CBI, dealing with Public Servants only, it was beyond the jurisdiction of the branch to proceed against private individuals. The principal tout was a person having high links with the District Executives and political bigwigs.

Our Branch Head (Retired as D.G.P from UP State) could somehow convince the Head Office the need to proceed against the private tout. I registered a case against the intermediary who was a small scale industrialist from the locality and obtained a warrant of search also. We found the office of the tout Mr. Venugopal was crowded with the aspirants and their parents. There was a security guard also to control the candidates. Our enquiry revealed that Sri Venugopal employed many sub agents for canvassing candidates across the districts and they were brought to the office of the Mr. Venugopal for screening their credentials and verifying their physical aptitude. Only the eligible candidates were preliminary selected and their documents and certificates were retained by the main agent. The bribe amounts were collected from them and then the aspirants were brought in a van along with the testimonials in the late hours of the evening to the residence of the Branch Recruiting Officer who was in the rank of a Lt. Col. The final selection process was done there and the middleman used to bring those candidates who are eligible to be recruited and collect money from such persons only to avoid any complaints. These candidates screened incognito were summoned by the BRO to the office and such screened persons were finally recruited by the team headed by him. Complaints started flowing only when the middlemen started collecting money indiscriminately from the ineligible candidates as well and they were not getting recruited or getting the money back from the agents.

Two officers and I entered the cabin of Mr. Venugopal where he was busy in the scrutiny of the educational qualification certificates of candidates and a retired Armed Force person taking physical measurement of the job seekers. On seeing us he was asking us to show our token card to verify whether we are breaking the allotted turn. We sat in front of him pulling chairs and were not talking leaving everything to him to build up. Our explosive silence and the smell of a friendly hostility suffocated him and gradually he stood up and asked ‘Are you from CBI?’ I do not know how he identified us correctly. He also showed his eagerness to stop our interference by offering an attractive amount. The cash, certificates and other testimonials of candidates, diary notes of Mr. Venugopal and other incriminating evidences etc were seized. We got certain documents to connect the active involvement of the Lt. Col and his residence was also searched on the same day evening. This was followed by searches in other places in Kerala and Karnataka on the next day. The news papers carried the stories.

The investigation disclosed pathetic stories of young aspirants who borrowed money from pawn brokers, arranged amount by selling the gold ornaments of their wives, mothers etc, and obtained funds by mortgaging or disposing off the land and house. Few persons left their villages to places unknown and there was a case of suicide as well. The touts were meeting the requirements of the derailed bureaucrat including getting his vehicles repaired, delivering the daily home needs, arranging building materials and man power for his house under construction besides cash partition. All came to an end.

The new set of officers took charge of the Recruiting Branch. Mr. Venugopal was prosecuted and sent to the jail. General Court Martial proceedings were carried against the Army Officer. In the Court an angry and desperate job seeker met me after tendering his evidence. He said. ‘The real enemies are not our neighboring countries. These are the enemies. May God have mercy on them, because we won’t.

A Wonderful Mother

1999 April. I was summoned by the Chairman of the Bank. On seeing me he entered into the subject directly. One Amit Shah residing at Malabar hill misused the Bank’s credit card to the tune of Rs 40 lacs. Of course it was not a big fraud, but compared to the credit card category -yes it was an exceptional one. (It was some two months back when another fraud of Rs 4 crores was reported in a branch at Goa and the Chairman was naturally annoyed). He wanted Mr. Shah to be delivered to CBI as he refused to make the payments to recover the loan. He also wanted the officers who allowed the funds to part to be put under suspension. I told him that both the decisions were hasty but the Chairman insisted. I had to call the CBI Branch Chief to know only that Mr. Shah was one of the accused persons in another Bank’s case of Rs 5 crore and was in their custody for days. During his custodial retention with the Agency he resorted to borrow a small sum from a soft hearted officer promising that it would be repaid but never tried to pay. We were told that Mr. Shah a sweet tongued youth would never carry out promises given and therefore difficult to recover the money. They refused to take up the case as the chance of recovery and conviction was remote and moreover the Banks officers would also be subjected to unwanted discomforts. The Chairman was staring at me. I got the message. I told him to keep two months time for me. He desisted but few General Managers insisted. The ball landed in my court. I was reminded to deal with Mr. Shah mercilessly with the help of Crime Branch so that he would not resort to repeat such acts and even if the defrauded amount is not forthcoming the Bank can very well write it off.

I decided to handle the matter by myself and not to refer it to the Crime Branch. While he was alighting from his lancer in front of his apartment I was waiting for him and he landed in my office. I found him very cooperative and he assured me that within a week he is getting me one crore rupees kept in his account and the balance amount after the dues would be deposited for a year and on the third day he would start with a token payment of rupees five lacs. I was very careful not to be driven by his honey coated words. The third day passed off without anything. Our meetings continued. He showed me certain documentary proof of bank instruments but found me not gullible. I realized that my time is getting wasted. I took his photographs telling him that I wanted to publish the item in the newspaper etc., but he continued to smile at me. About ten days passed and we were playing cat and mouse. I decided to put an end to the game. I visited his house and talked to his wife and mother. They told me that they do not want to talk on the matter at their house as the family head -a retired bureaucrat- was ailing from heart disease.

They came the next day to my office. For an hour I kept on talking. I called all the six officers who were instrumental in getting the transactions authenticated and as a result Mr. Shah was able to go on purchasing gold ornaments form different jewellery shops. (There would not be any real purchase as the jewelers used to pass the money after a 10% deduction and the bank makes the payment for the virtual purchase to the firm. The officers were lured by Mr. Shah promising huge deposit to the Bank and there was no consideration of any sort). His mother and wife were told that the officers would shortly be losing their jobs and the loss sustained by the bank would be collected from them and thus six families would be hit hard for acts committed by Mr. Shah for his own benefit. I left the cabin leaving all the officers with them purposely so that the ladies would become the emotional hostages of the officers. I re-entered the cabin after a comfortable intermission. I asked the ladies to avoid the curse of the families of the officers and quoted a couple of instances to explain the quick mortality of greedy and illegal procurement. They started leaving the room assuring me of their return.

They came back after a couple of hours and handed over me Rs 5 lacs which were the sale proceeds of their diamond ear wears. I could not believe it. The mother said that she will repay the entire outstanding amount with interest. ‘I have got only one son and a grandson. I will not allow six sons and a number of grandchildren to starve because of my son’s deeds. Give us one month’s time”. That was the beginning. Five lacs, seven lacs, four lacs, ten lacs…….it followed over a period of one month. She could pay the entire dues with interest which was really unbelievable to me even. Yes one more thing ..Mr. Amit Shah was always accompanying his mother like an obedient child. The account of Mr. Shah in the Card Products Dept was thus closed. We found that his great mother had paid Rs Ten thousand in excess which we returned to her. I found Mr. Amit sobbing like a five year old boy and his mother hugging him. Tears came in her eyes. I found my eyes also wet. I remembered a Jewish proverb. “God could not be everywhere so he created mothers”. I grabbed her hand and said “Thank you. You are a wonderful mother“. She smiled and said softly “In fact I should thank you, you gave me a chance to mend my son. I did not know fully what he was doing outside. He will not repeat such things. May God takes care you all.”

The Board rewarded the task. In the meeting a senior executive commented --‘where there is a will, there is a way’. I corrected-- ‘where there is a wonderful mother there is a way’.