I have always wanted to do something for those who are not well placed in life and those who do not get justice. I was 17 years old, and helped distribute some rice to victims of drought and famine. It gave me my first taste of working for the greater good. I will never forget that feeling of being of some use, of serving a greater cause.

My time in the Army was about being a good soldier and doing the best for my country. Retirement in 1998 saw me settle in Pune and I connected with like-minded people via the Express Citizens’ Forum, an initiative of The Indian Express media house. Serendipity led me to Nagrik Chetna Manch, which believes that transparency in governance is the best way to check corruption and work towards justice. I became part of the management committee.

I believe our lives are affected most by those in local governments than by what the Centre or state governments do. Buses, roads, traffic, electricity, water—these are just some of the everyday essentials controlled locally. I have seen how callous the neta-babu nexus is. Their outlook is always, ‘What’s in it for me?’

However, there are a handful of people in governance who are honest, yet overruled by their corrupt bosses, and want to bring this to the notice of the public. With their help, we started getting information bit by bit; it was still like pulling teeth. Officials would not act even after we used the information to bring irregularities to their notice. Then, we approached media to publicise the same, hoping that naming and shaming would work. We thus helped recover between ₹ 18 lakh and ₹ 20 lakh in public money by investigative work alone. By 2002, we were using the Right to Information (RTI) Act too.

In the first years of my social work, I was offered a ‘premium’ flat in return for withdrawing a case. Emissaries were sent to ask what my “requirement” was. I got offered “consultancies” in fields of which I have no knowledge. This has stopped completely, perhaps because they have given up on me!

From illegalities pertaining to study tours and Transfer of Development Rights violations to encroachments, untreated solid waste and missing trees, we have held the powers that be to account. Preparing for legal cases and keeping lawyers updated has become almost a full-time job for me. I have had to miss family events because of this and I had started to feel that my dedication was becoming a bone of contention in the family. But during an interview to the media, my wife surprised me by saying she is 100 per cent behind me. This boosted my morale.

Now, all the attention to detail and painstaking work has begun to pay off and it is heartening that, in many cases, we have received interim orders in our favour. In addition to acting as watchdogs to government, I believe we have to raise the chetna [consciousness] of everyone through education. And for this, my family trust provides scholarships to deserving students: children of bus drivers and conductors, conservancy workers, etc.

At 85, the work I do is very fulfilling and satisfying. One sees the truth in Holocaust survivor and existential proponent Viktor Frankl’s assertion that the will to meaning or man’s search for meaning is the basic motivation for human life and it is this search that helps understand and overcome pain and suffering.

—Major General (retd) S C N Jatar, Pune

Photo courtesy: S C N Jatar
Featured in Harmony — Celebrate Age Magazine
August 2017