Omkar Dattatray
India including the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir observed vigilance awareness week from October 30,to November 5,2023 with utmost dedication .The vigilance awareness week is observed every year to make the public aware about the perils and dangers of corruption so as to prevent this menace which is eating vitals of the nation like a termite and so there is utmost need and necessity to not only prevent corruption but also to eradicate it from the government offices ,public corporations as well as from private entities. Thus we have to fight corruption from public life and make transparency in public life the aim and objective of vigilance awareness week .The purpose of the vigilance awareness week is to make public aware about the perils of corruption and to make sincere efforts to weed it out from the government and private institutions and make corruption free society and public life the motto of the vigilance week.
The Ministry of Micro ,Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) has observed the vigilance awareness week with the theme given by central vigilance commission ,”Say No to Corruption ,Commit to nation. ”During the vigilance awareness week ,the Ministry of MSME had organized various awareness programmes/seminars/workshops/capacity building training at the ministry level as well as through the organizations under this ministry .This will lead to aware the employees to work towards instituting corruption free philosophy /bring in transparency ,maintain absolute integrity and devotion to duty at all times .Like at the central level ,Jammu and Kashmir UT has also observed the vigilance awareness week with great devotion .Observance of vigilance awareness week remains one of the primary tools of preventive vigilance with the focus on building awareness and re-affirming the commitment of everyone to build integrity in public governance .Vigilance awareness week is observed every year to commemorate the birth day of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel .The purpose of vigilance awareness week is to generate awareness in the public at large about the ill effects of corruption .During the observance of the vigilance awareness week various activities viz ,essay writing competition ,quiz ,painting competition and extempore were conducted during the week to instill the theme of ”Say no to corruption ,commit to the Nation. ”and to increase awareness among the various stakeholders to fight the menace of corruption .In connection with the observance of Vigilance week ,2023,students from different schools of Jammu and Srinagar conducted an awareness drive on menace of corruption at civil Secretariat ,Jammu as well as civil Secretariat ,Srinagar .
During the drive students ,who who were assigned as ‘vigilance Ambassadors ,distributed pamphlets in different offices of civil Secretariat and apprised the officers and officials regarding the menace of corruption and ways to curb it in government offices .While felicitating the ‘Vigilance Ambassadors’ ,commissioner Secretary GAD, Sanjeev Verma ,appreciated the active participation of these students in awareness drive .He also commended the participating educational institutions in this drive .Government SMRL ,Model HSS ,Parade ,Jammu and government Model Girls HSS Mubark Mandi ,Jammu participated in the drive at civil Secretariat Jammu while as Government Girls HSS Amira Kadal ,Srinagar and Government Boys HSS ,Jawahar Nagar ,Srinagar participated in the drive at civil Secretariat Srinagar. Moreover different schools ,collages both government and private in Jammu as well as in Kashmir organized many activities to make public aware about the dangers of corruption and also through these activities impressed upon the government departments ,officers and officials to weed out corruption from government functioning.
Observance of vigilance awareness week every year during the last week of October is taken up to encourage all stakeholders to collectively participate in the prevention of ,and fight against corruption and to raise public awareness regarding the existence, causes and gravity of and threat posed by corruption .It is driven by the Central Vigilance Commission .The CVC has the mandate under the central vigilance commission act 2003 to fight corruption and to ensure integrity in public administration .It is charged with monitoring all vigilance activities under the central government and advising various authorities in central government and organizations under it, in planning ,executing and reviewing their vigilance work in order to bring out systemic improvement in governance .In addition ,the commission with its out- reach activities also endeavors to create awareness amongst the common man ,especially the youth ,towards the policy of achieving transparency ,accountability and corruption fee governance .The vigilance awareness week was observed by the anti -corruption bureau and various departments of the government of Jammu and Kashmir ,besides various banks .In this connection Jammu and Kashmir Bank also observed vigilance awareness week. ”Every one of us is responsible for safeguarding this bank and should ,therefore ,remain vigilant about elements that can harm this institution besides defrauding its customers or staff ,”said MD & CEO Baldev Prakash after kick-starting the observance of vigilance awareness week 2023 across the Bank in presence of Executive Director Sudhir Gupta ,chief vigilance officer Ambrish Misra ,General managers ,DGM’s and other senior officers of the bank .He also administered the integrity pledge on the occasion ,wherein the participants pledged to uphold the highest standards of integrity ,transparency and accountability while discharging their duties .Vigilance awareness programmes were organized by ACB in Mendhar ,Bhaderwah ,Kathua ,Handwara ,Pampore ,Budgam ,Rafiabad and Srinagar.
Jammu and Kashmir Anti Corruption Bureau has observed vigilance awareness week by conducting and organizing various programmes across the UT.ACB Rajouri held a seminar in the conference Hall of government ,Degree Collage Mendhar in presence of the officers and officials of other departments of division Mendhar along with representatives of PIR’s .During the course of seminar ,the team of ACB also interacted with the participants including ,students and faculty members of Degree collage Mendhar ,representatives of PIR’s and general public gathered and briefed them for lodging the complaints against corrupt activities whenever they observe.ACB Jammu organized a painting competition at Government College for Women ,Parade ,Jammu in connection with the vigilance awareness week .ACB Anantnag in collaboration with JKEDI organized a seminar for sensitizing employees about perils of corruption at JKEID .Similarly ACB Baramulla organized an awareness programme at Government HSS Hadipora, Rafiabad .The team of ACB headed by Dy SP interacted with students ,staff and civil society members and made them aware about the perils of corruption.ACB Srinagar also organized seminars at two different places under the aegis of’ ‘Vigilance Awareness Week 2023.”In short the vigilance awareness week was observed throughout the UT by not only the ACB but by the educational institutions ,various government departments, banks and other organizations to make officers ,officials and general public aware about the menace of corruption and the fight against it.
(The author is a columnist, social and KP activist).
