*Revenue, RDD on top; Police Deptt too under tight grip of menace
Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, Mar 14: The warning bells on corruption are becoming louder in Jammu and Kashmir with every passing year and if steps on war footing basis are not initiated the menace will creep so deep in the system that it would be almost impossible to get rid of the same. This can be gauged from the continuous sharp rise in number of complaints of corruption, nepotism and mal-practices against the officers and officials of different Government departments.
Shockingly, almost all the public dealing departments are on the top of list and Police Department, which is supposed to play vital role in checking the menace, is also getting badly hit by the scourge of corruption.
As per the official data, the copies of which are available with EXCELSIOR, the complaints of corruption, nepotism and mal-practices against officers and officials of Government departments have increased from 1218 to 1419 within a period of six months and if this pace is not reversed the situation will assume dangerous proportion.
These figures are also indicative towards the fact that present anti-corruption measures have failed to deter officers and officials from indulging in corrupt practices and more harsh steps are required to be taken to ensure that this menace doesn’t spread its tentacles further.
Out of 1218 complaints received during the period between July 1, 2015 and December 31, 2015, maximum 257 were pertaining to Revenue, Relief and Rehabilitation Department followed by Education Department with 165 complaints against its officers and officials and Rural Development Department with 65 complaints.
However, during the period between January 1, 2016 and June 30, 2016 when the total number of complaints was increased to 1419 from 1218 during previous six months, the number of complaints against officers and officials of Revenue, Relief and Rehabilitation Department increased to 277 while as complaints against Rural Development Department increased to 143. However, the number of complaints against Education Department’s officers and officials decreased to 119.
Similarly, the number of complaints against the officers and officials of Public Health Engineering Department increased to 62 during first half of 2016 against 57 of previous six months. Similarly, the complaints against Health Department increased to 76 during 2016 against 65 in 2015.
The number of complaints against Police Department, which is considered as protector of law, was 72 in 2015 but the same increased to 82 in 2016 thereby making it clear that corruption is also on rise in this department. Public Works Department too has registered sharp rise in number of complaints against its officers and officials as the number was 35 in 2015 but the same increased to 51 in 2016.
Another public dealing department which is sharply gaining the notoriety of being badly ridden with corruption is Power Development Department. The number of complaints against officers and officials of this department was 41 in second half of 2015 but the same increased to 64 in the first half of 2016.
Social Welfare, Forest, Irrigation, Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs, Jammu Development Authority, Srinagar Development Authority, Jammu and Kashmir Projects Construction Corporation Limited, Housing and Urban Development/UEED and banks are also among the departments against whom the number of complaints has witnessed sharp rise within a period of six months.
According to the data, 1419 complaints have been filed against around 500 Government servants including 283 Gazetted Officers.
“All these figures clearly suggest that the anti-corruption mechanism is required to be strengthened in Jammu and Kashmir so that menace doesn’t become untreatable disease which would be a major blot on the face of the State”, official sources said, adding “the situation also demands that internal vigilance in the Government departments through Departmental Vigilance Officers (DVOs) is required to be overhauled so that this mechanism also starts delivering the required results”.
“It is only by way of strict and time-bound action that deterrence can be ensured”, sources further said, adding “as the present PDP-BJP Coalition Government is repeatedly issuing statements about ensuring transparency and accountability in the administration the time has come for it to translate this into reality by launching full scale war against the corrupt officers and officials”.
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