Act promptly on queries related to corruption, Govt tells officials

Srinagar—The State govern­ment has directed authorities in all the departments to act promptly on the graft enquiries conducted by them or the State Vigilance Orga­nization (SVC) against officials.

An official of the government Wednesday told KNS that it has been observed that various de­partments’ noncooperation with the anti-graft agencies on cor­ruption related quires. “There are complaints that departments have been delaying action against tainted officials despite the SVC’s enquiries. Now the strict instruc­tions have been given to the de­partmental heads to act against the tainted officials,” insisted not to be named, the official said.

He further said that the depart­ments have also been directed to conduct internal enquiries for quick action against the guilty. “The departmental vigilance of­ficers and district vigilance offi­cers have been directed to adopt a multidimensional approach for checking corruption allegations against government officials,” he maintained.

The official added that the of­ficers of departments were also directed to take departmental action on the enquiry reports, wherever necessary, and not to wait for the outcome of enquiry/ investigation being conducted on the same charges by Vigilance Or­ganization or SVC.

One of the top officials of the SVC told KNS that it is unfortu­nate that most of the departments are reluctant in sharing case his­tory of the accused and as a result the cases gather dust and accused roam free.

Sources also said that hun­dreds of complaints received by the state vigilance commission, the highest anti-graft bodies are pending with various Depart­ments of the State Government for the disposal. “Hundreds of cases have been sent to different government departments for ac­tion and on the basis of evidence collected, prima facie charges have been established against identified officials, however so far action has been taken only in few cases and action against the remaining hundreds is pending,” the officials said.

The duties of departmental vigilance officers and district vigi­lance officers are explicitly defined in Jammu and Kashmir State Vigi­lance Commission Rules, 2013.

Their role is to check corrup­tion in departments, even on the basis of media reports.

It is to mention here that the government had earlier decided to order premature retirement of ‘corrupt and incapable’ officials, who have not been able to deliver in their respective departments.

The government had also con­stituted a high-level committee headed by Chief Secretary and the committee was to be the final authority to take action against the corrupt officials.

However sources told KNS that from last one and a half years, scores of officers who were facing corruption charges were awarded plum postings.

Late Mufti Mohammad Sayeed in 2015 affirmed his commitment to bring transparency and ac­countability in the state adminis­tration when he removed tainted officials and non-performing bu­reaucrats from the plum postings.

The chief minister Mehbooba Mufti had also admitted that cor­ruption was a major challenge in the state with various anti-graft agencies having received thou­sands of complaints in this regard. “Corruption is a major challenge for the government and its ad­verse effects on the society cannot be underestimated,” CM had said.

One of the top officials of the vigilance organization said that there is a deluge of complaints be­ing received by the State Vigilance Organization from last two years. “In a number of complaints in 2015- to 2017, allegations are main­ly about violation of codal formali­ties in the award of contracts in Govt. works, purchases, appoint­ments, promotions and transfer, denial of services by the Govt. De­partments etc,” he said. (KNS)

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