Whistleblower, what?

An exploration into some employees blow the whistle against wrong practices and corruption in the organization, how it impacts the organization and the whistle blower, and what organizations can do to create an environment which helps employees to prevent organizationally and socially undesirable practices.

whistleblowing is an honorable technique against corruption – by exposing the malpractices in one’s marketplace.

A whistleblower is a person who publicly alleges concealed misconduct on the part of an organization or body of people, usually from within that same organisation. This misconduct may be classified in many ways; for example, a violation of a law, rule, regulation and/or a direct threat to public interest, such as fraud, health/safety violations, and corruption. Whistleblowers may make their allegations internally (for example, to other people within the accused organisation) or externally (to law enforcement agencies, to the media or to groups concerned with the issues).

Whistleblowers frequently face reprisal - sometimes at the hands of the organisation or group which they have accused, sometimes from related organizations

As things stand today in India, the chances of enacting such legislation may seem remote. But whistleblower protection measures are gathering a momentum of their own around the world, aided partly by spectacular government and corporate scandals. It is just a question of time before we shift from our present culture of zero tolerance of whistleblowing to a culture of zero tolerance of whistleblower retaliation.

By Priti Shah