STATE TIMES NEWS
JAMMU: Reaffirming the resolve of the State Vigilance Commission (SVC) to reduce and eradicate the menace of corruption, the Chief Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) on Thursday said that adequate measures are required to be implemented to enforce preventive measures and expose Government officials indulging in corrupt practices, adding that actions being taken by the Commission for checking this illegal and unethical practice are yielding encouraging results.
The Commission, which met here under the chair of the Chief Vigilance Commissioner, reiterated that the recommendations made earlier by the Commission to the Government for installation of CCTV Cameras at identified points and offices need to be implemented early for the overall benefit of general public and Government to act as a deterrent against corrupt officials and introduce transparency in public dealings by Government officials.
The Chief Vigilance Commissioner said that Government is duty bound to make accountability more effective at all levels of administration for weeding out the menace of corruption.
Referring to the swelling of corruption related complaints being received by the Commission daily as a barometer of increasing public faith, the CVC said that Revenue Department figures at top of the list with 2,163 complaints received so far followed by Education department with 1,174, Rural Development 823, Police 517, Social Welfare 431, Health 394, PHE 392, Forest 377, R&B 353, Municipalities 310, PDD 258, Food and Civil Supplies 198, I&FC 155 and SKUAST 137.
Apart from recommending to the Government to strengthen internal vigilance in the departments, the Commission has earlier in several communications to the Government departments recommended to install CCTV cameras at all offices having large public dealing and identified the offices of Deputy Commissioners, Tehsildars, RTOs, BDOs, Commercial Taxes and Excise, Toll Plazas, Municipal Corporation /Committees, Police Stations, traffic police check points, engineering departments and hospital ticket counters are the prime offices where people encounter demand for bribe.
The Commission said that time has come when Government needs to re-enforce its directions and ensure that CCTV cameras are installed at all places identified by the Commission earlier with
provision of preserving the recording for a period of six months and regular monitoring of the footage of recording in each office by an identified
senior level officer of proven integrity.
