Remembering Manjunath Shanmugam

GURGOAN: He pinned up the `thought for the day' on the notice board of the Indian Institute of Management Studies-Lucknow (IIML), which largely went unnoticed. However, the legacy of Manjunath Shanmugam, an Indian Oil Corporation sales officer, who was killed for trying to stop adulteration of oil, has gone beyond the IIM community to become an inspiration for the whole country.

On Sunday, his friends and others gathered here to ensure that the legacy of honesty lives on. The Manjunath Shanmugam Trust (MST), formed by members of the international IIM alumni network earlier this year, together with Parivartan, a non-government organisation, launched a national Right to Information helpline on the occasion. It will answer queries that ordinary people might have about the RTI Act. The helpline — 9250-400-100 — will be manned by 10 trained personnel seven days a week. It will initially be in Hindi and English, but will soon include Tamil.

Calling from Johannesburg in South Africa to support the helpline, Narayana Murthy, chairman and chief mentor of Infosys, said: "For any democracy to consider itself evolved, it is imperative that there is an accountability of governments and authorities. This Act allows the public to question and seek answers from the establishment, thus making decision-making and governance transparent. This more than anything else contributes to the development of any nation."

The Trust also announced the Manjunath memorial award to felicitate individuals or organisations, which try to uphold the values that Manjunath lived and died for. The IOC officer played football, was into music and like any ordinary 27-year-old never set out to be a hero. But unlike most young people who dream to get into top management schools to land a high-paying job, he wanted to do something responsible. Sunday's gathering also got a chance to remember a classmate who always had a smile on his face.

"He was lively, chirpy and carefree. He was never interested in the highest-paying job. He said he wanted to do something responsible. He knew what he stood for and never got swayed by what anyone said. No matter how many times he met you in the day, he would always smile. I will never be able to forget his face,' said Supreet Kaur, a classmate.

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