Whistle-blower flags irregularities, corruption in ONGC, alleges victimisation

He had apprised company authorities about irregularities and corrupt practices but was 'advised' to 'refrain' from further highlighting incidents to higher authorities

A senior retired official of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has brought to light gross irregularities and corrupt practices at the Navaratna company’s Ankleshwar assets in Gujarat. Besides apprising the chairman and managing director of ONGC and Union petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan through letters, the whistle-blower has now knocked the doors of the Prime Minister seeking an independent probe.
 
Probin Chandra Bhagowaty, an Assamese, who recently retired as chief engineer (production) after rendering 37 years of service to ONGC, said he was witness to gross irregularities and corruption in the company since his days in Gujarat as an official and had subsequently highlighted the matter. Besides causing losses of several crores of rupees to the company annually, the unfair and corrupt practices were resulting in accidents and human casualties on a regular basis.

 
“I had been witness to gross negligence of duty by officials at drilling sites resulting in accidents and deaths. Safety measures at work sites are often compromised. There had been many cases of fire and blowouts at rigs, resulting in death of workers. Often such cases are covered-up and not reported and no responsibility is fixed. Many officials were also involved in a theft racket, stealing valuable equipment and goods of the company,” said Bhagowaty to Business Standard.
 

Cases of blowouts and fire, he said, should not be covered up at any cost as such incidents could be learning experiences for the company to prevent any such happenings in future, thus saving lives of workers.

 
He claimed the losses ONGC was incurring due to fire, blowouts and theft ran into several crores of rupees. Citing an example, he said a mishap at well number NAD#13 RIG No. BHEL-VI in April 2016 which killed two persons was due to “absence of adequate safety measures.”
 
While in duty he had apprised concerned company authorities about the irregularities and corrupt practices but was ‘advised’ to ‘refrain’ from further highlighting the incidents to higher authorities. He termed the attitude of many senior company officials as ‘apathetic’ and “who always seem to devise their plans to rob the company.”

 
Despite directions from higher-ups of the company and Guajarat police to install close circuit televisions (CCTV) to check theft, Bhagowaty claimed they were not installed at vital locations due to opposition from corrupt officials.
 
Post retirement, Bhagowaty in February 2016 wrote to Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) highlighting the ‘murky affairs’ at Ankleshwar asset. “The PMO promptly acknowledged my letter and directed the petroleum ministry to look into the matter,” he said. However, Bhagowaty claimed since the petroleum ministry asked ONGC to probe into the matter, there was again a cover-up by the company. He again wrote to the PMO in May, this time seeking an independent probe by an outside agency.

 
“As a good citizen of this country, my conscience asked me not to be silent when such corrupt practices were happening before my eyes. So I decided to take up the matter and pursue it till its logical conclusion,” said Bhagowaty, who retired from ONGC on December 31, 2015.
 
The company, Bhagowaty said, rather victimised him for flagging unfair and corrupt practices. He claimed though he had been an ‘outstanding performer’ and had been acknowledged too by ONGC in the past, on his retirement his appraisal showed negative remark. “All my honest efforts (were) made with a view to ameliorate the work culture and working conditions of ONGC. My ACR grades have suddenly showed a negative remark, creating a question mark on my 37 years of dedicated service. It is mere vindictiveness on the part of the management,” said Bhagowaty in his letter to the Prime Minister in February.