Gautam Goswami (1966 – January 5, 2009) was an Indian civil servant, who faced allegations of corruption. He was also a medical doctor and a gold medalist.
He passed his MBBS from the Institute of Medical Sciences at the Banaras Hindu University in Varanasi.
Goswami was eulogized as a young hero for his supervision of relief efforts after floods hit Bihar, India.[1] Goswami the best IAS officer ever seen in the history of India got, "the person of the year" award from Time magazine in 2004. It is now alleged, however, that throughout, Goswami allegedly channelled government money set aside for flood relief into a labyrinth of private accounts.[2] The Indian Express first started reporting on possible misappropriations in 2004. These investigative reports soon caused a backlash against the officer.
The reports[3] meticulously detailed the suspected modus operandi. Goswami, it was said, was funnelling funds to a private company named Baba Satya Sai Industrial Corporation, and maintaining in the records books that money was paid to BSSIC. BSSIC, incidentally was also the acronym of the state agency, Bihar Small Scale Industries Corporation, that oversaw relief work. It is reported that one year later, during the audits, it was discovered that less than 1% of the money reached those affected. Goswami was eventually re-instated. His health had been an area of concern and he was being treated for pancreatic cancer. Goswami died on January 5, 2009.