Chandigarh, Sep 18 (PTI) Haryana State Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Friday said all government departments have been instructed not to repost officials and employees in the same district where they were caught accepting bribes.
State Vigilance and ACB chief Arshinder Singh Chawla said the decision was taken following deliberations by the ACB’s High-Power Committee.
The ACB said it has prepared a list of 190 officials and employees in the state against whom it has received repeated complaints or inputs related to corruption.
In several cases, it was observed that after action was taken against an official or employee in a corruption case, they were reposted in the same district. This could defeat the objective of action against corruption and adversely affect public confidence in the system, an official statement quoted Chawla as saying.
Hence, the issue was discussed by the ACB’s High-Power Committee, and a proposal for necessary action was placed before the government. Letters have now been sent to all government departments, asking them to avoid reposting such officials and employees in the same district where they were caught red-handed.
Chawla said 138 successful trap operations have been conducted so far this year, leading to government employees getting caught red-handed while accepting bribes.
If government holidays are excluded, on average, at least one government employee was caught red-handed accepting a bribe every second day, he said.
This figure, he said, is not merely a count of enforcement actions, but also an indication that people are coming forward to report corruption.
He said action in corruption cases is not limited to arrests; special attention is being given to effectively pursue the cases and ensure that the courts convict the guilty.
Since January 1 this year, the ACB chief said, various courts have awarded rigorous punishments to 23 government employees in 21 cases. This indicates that apart from immediate arrests, effective prosecution and follow-up have been ensured, until the final stage of the legal process.
Chawla said the ACB has prepared a list of 190 officials and employees in the state against whom it has received repeated complaints or inputs related to corruption. The available information against them is being analysed so that necessary action can follow, he said.
He said the ACB is continuously analysing complaints received from various departments. The objective is to identify the departments, offices and areas that are emerging as “corruption hotspots”.
According to the statement, there are seven ACB police stations in Haryana. Information and complaints received at these police stations are analysed to identify the problems faced by citizens in government offices. Based on this analysis, the agency coordinates with the departments concerned to take action and bring about systemic improvements.
The ACB is conducting trial of a mobile application that could make complaint filing much simpler and more accessible for citizens, as people often do not remember the ACB helpline number, Chawla said.
The mobile application will enable people to connect to the ACB helpline with a single touch. In addition, it will incorporate OTP-based facilities and other security features to safeguard the complainant’s identity.
If a person travels outside their district and faces a corruption-related issue there, they should also be able to easily communicate the information to the ACB. The complaint system is therefore being made more convenient and technology-driven, he said.
Chawla said the fight against corruption is a continuous process.
Action against corruption, protection of complainants, follow-up of cases, securing convictions, identification of hotspots and simplifying the complaint system through technology — all these aspects are being addressed simultaneously, he said. PTI SUN DIV DIV
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