Jacob Thomas struggled to clean up the system, inspired many: Rajdeep Sardesai

Sunday 07 August 2016 01:03 PM IST

by Our Correspondent

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Jacob Thomas struggled to clean up the system, inspired many: Rajdeep Sardesai

Rajdeep Sardesai hands over Manorama Newsmaker award to Jacob Thomas in Kochi on Saturday

Kochi: India’s strength lay in tens of thousands of honest workers, journalist and author Rajdeep Sardesai said. Individuals may not be able to wipe away corruption but they could make a difference in the system, he added.

People’s representatives were supposed to change the system but they were too preoccupied with perpetuating their positions, he said.

Bribery-tainted cricketers or tax-evading businessmen are celebrated by news media, Sardesai said, handing over Manorama News TV channel’s ‘Newsmaker 2015’ award to vigilance director Jacob Thomas.

Sardesai said Thomas had struggled to clean up the system and has inspired many people in the process, although it was not clear how far has he succeeded in his efforts.
He also said the media should look up to individuals fighting the system. Media is facing a crisis of credibility and the new generation of journalists do not have a model worth emulating, he added.

Anna Hazare was a hero for the media in 2011 for his fight against corruption. He was even hailed as a contemporary Gandhi and Arvind Kejriwal was made out to be his Hanuman, Sardesai said.

Two years down the line, Kejriwal became the chief minister of Delhi while Hazare retired to his village. It takes strong-willed people to take on corruption, he said.

Thomas said he earned the honor by following Kerala’s collective dream of a corruption-free society. He said people’s support convinced him that a corruption-free Kerala was not a pipe dream. He said the award had helped him overcome too many hurdles and limits.

Civil service officers face an invisible line regarding serving the people. In his new stint as the vigilance director, Thomas expanded the scope of his work to benefit the tribesmen in Attappadi and the coir workers. Someone on Facebook asked me where have I been so long, Thomas said, convincing him of the people’s support in future ventures.

He said the Kerala government has given him a mandate to ensure clean governance in the state. Attempts have been made to ensure that in every department. A registry of whistleblowers is in the works at the district level. If the department can identify at least a thousand whistleblowers in a couple of years, the corrupt will have a tough time.

Manorama News TV channel news director Johny Lukose, Muthoot Fincorp executive vice president S. Kannan, people’s representatives and prominent persons from social, cultural and business sectors attended the function, which wound up with a violin concert by Manoj George.

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Birds flock the field as a man ploughs it using a tractor at Amballoor in Ernakulam. Photo: Josekutty J Panackal

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