Kota scandal exposes skeletons in NGO cupboards

Indecent proposals are on the rise in the corridors of the public places. After the Jodhpur case where a lady doctor Sunita Malviya was asked to submit herself before a High Court judge to get rid of the case filed against her, the demand of sexual favours made by the Project Officer of an Anganbari NGO of Kota, from a woman for payment of her salary has exposed the darker side of the society further.Dr Sunita Malviya’s case led to the resignation of the HC judge, Justice Madan. The case of Hargovind Nirbhik has exposed the skeletons in the cupboard of the NGOs.
The demand for sexual favour made by the Project Director of Kota’s Madhu Smriti Sansthan has revealed how NGOs are exploiting its women workers. Madhu Smriti Sansthan has been rewarded by the President for doing excellent work in the field of women and child welfare.
The story: Madhu Smriti Sansthan is running 124 Anganbari’s in Sulatanpur Panchayat. The Anganbari’s are run by seven supervisors. The NGO Madhu Smriti Sansthan is led by Brijbala Nirbhik, wife of Hargovind. The NGO receives grants from the government too.
The woman, whose salary was withheld for four months, had been continuously demanding her salary from Hargovind Nirbhik. The latter demanded that she meet him alone and she would be paid her salary. Hargovind asked the woman to meet him at some secluded place and get her problem sorted out.
She was always asked to come alone. But the woman always took somebody along with her and Hargovind could not take any undue advantage. As a result, her salary was not paid. One day Hargovind gave her a call and asked her to meet him alone to get her salary. He also asked her to accompany him to Jaipur so that he could introduce her to ministers and big officials.
Nirbhik once worked in Jaipur’s industries department. While serving at Jaipur, he fell in love with Brijbala and both shifted to Kota to launch the NGO, which was named after the late sister of Brijbala.
The woman, who is married, made a written complaint against Hargovind to the Anti Corruption Bureau at Kota and informed about the indecent proposals regularly made Hargovind. Later, ACB after verifying the fact laid the trap.
Nirbhik called the woman on 26th May to RTDC’s Chambal Rest house, where he had booked a room. When the woman tried to enter the room where Hargovind was waiting, the ACB trapped him. Hargovind when trapped, alleged that his enemies had trapped him. He said he had booked the room in the name of some UNICEF official who was to visit Kota on that day.
When he was taken to the ACB, he tried to bribe the officials by offering them Rs one lakh.
Hargovind asked his office to withdraw Rs one lakh from the account and asked them to get the money at the place where he was being interrogated by ACB police superintendent Alok Vashisth.
Government grants: The state government has entered into an agreement with Madhu Smriti Sansthan since 1997 and it has received payments worth Rs 13.15 lakh between October 2002 to March 2003.
For the supervisors working in Sultanpur area, the state government paid the honorarium for the month January-March.
The payments were made to four supervisors, while the payments of three supervisors including that of the aggrieved woman was withheld.
The state government should try and conduct public audit of all the NGOs so that their affairs are made public.
A few years ago, Bunker Roy’s Social Welfare Research Centre at Tilonia voluntarily conducted the public audit in presence of villagers.