Kamal Sangra
Behind every great fortune lies a great crime– Honoré de Balzac
This week has something for everyone – the hope for a bright future, dream of a corruption free society and a pledge by all public servants to build new India. Well, the Vigilance Awareness week is here again!
The Central Vigilance Commission, as part of its efforts to promote probity in public life and to achieve a corruption free society, has been observing ‘Vigilance Awareness Week’ every year since 2000 and this happens to be the week within which the birthday of Late. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel falls on the 31st of October. ‘Eradicate Corruption – Build a New India’ is the theme for this year’s Vigilance
Vigilance Awareness Week
Awareness Week beginning October 29 to November 3, 2018. The Central Vigilance Commission is of the considered view that corruption is a serious unethical practice that undermines trust and confidence in public officials and that public confidence can only be gained by promoting integrity in governance. Looking back, ‘My Vision – Corruption Free India’ and ‘Public Participation in Promoting Integrity and Eradicating Corruption’ has been the themes in the year 2016 and 2017 respectively. Evidently, corruption remains at the centre stage in vigilance awareness week every year.
Despite the fact that vigilance awareness week is being celebrated every year, corruption in different areas of administration has not shown any relent. J&K is still considered as one of the most corrupt states in India and that ranking did not show any downward trend though different political parties remained on the scene all this while. Gulam Nabi Azad in 2007 called for a social sanction against people responsible for inducement of corruption and underlined the need for a legislation to deal with elements inducing the menace in the society. Former Governor N.N.Vohra in 2008 had expressed his concerns over the menace of corruption and had called for restoring the trust of the people in the administration by making it more transparent and corruption free. And now ten years later, his successor, the present Governor, Satya Pal Malik observed, “Corruption is deep-seated in Kashmir. The amount of money Kashmir had, if that would have been properly utilised, then Kashmir would have become golden Kashmir” and further that, “bungalows of some of the officers have 15 rooms and carpets worth several crores inside while a common mule owner of Kashmir, who takes people on Shri Amarnath Ji pilgrimage, even doesn’t have a sweater to wear”. One can infer that successive Chief Ministers and Governors though honestly felt concerned about the menace of corruption but, unfortunately, their approach to containing the same was not only limited but equally faulty as they seldom took the onus on themselves. Not only one need stringent laws and their execution, Bodies such as the State Vigilance Commission, the State Information Commission and the State Accountability Commission needs to be strengthened, empowered and made more transparent. Not only this, transparency and accountability in all the government departments and autonomous bodies is equally required. Appointment of upright persons of utmost integrity in these autonomous bodies had been the top priority of the government but similar appointments in other departments are also needed if the government seriously wishes to wipe out corruption from the state. Setting up of first-ever ‘Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB)’ seems to be a right decision and scrapping of group medical insurance policy by the Governor administration may be hailed by one and all but until and unless those behind this ambitious project are held responsible and punished, the bold decision of scrapping the policy would be a futile exercise. And this is true not only in case of medical insurance but also in all similar affairs and decisions in the past.
With past corrupts unpunished, there is no deterrence. Investigating agencies must bear in mind that a corrupt produces more corrupt and unpunished corrupt undermines public trust as well. There has not been a single case of a politician, bureaucrat, businessman or a man in uniform who has been transparently investigated, effectively chargesheeted and fairly prosecuted for corruption though one finds a few examples in other states. In J&K, the investigating agencies cannot cite even one instance where anyone of significance in the political class or in the bureaucracy has been successfully booked without being his or her FIR quashed by the court or their conviction upheld on appeal. On the contrary, disheartening examples are many. Almost all the 63 officials declared deadwood and premature retired by the late Mufti Sayeed’s Government joined back after their termination orders were struck down by the courts on various grounds. Many tainted officials facing serious charges of corruption have even been elevated and given prime postings by successive governments ignoring the honest and dedicated public servants.
Celebrating vigilance awareness week in letter and spirit would actually mean taking the first step in the understanding of corruption in a broader sense and the target area. Everyone encounters ‘everyday bribe’ being given on regular basis to the dealing hands in every sarkari office to push the file to the higher table, to escape Traffic Challans, to secure smooth work in revenue departments etc. but seldom do we realize that the silent corruption in big mega projects, construction, purchases, allotments, tenders in which the booty runs into crores and the ‘share’ is conveniently transferred to the corrupt public servants do us more harm and goes unnoticed. Irony is that the traces of evidence against these big and mighty holding the higher positions, having strong networks and influence are hard to find out as both the giver and the receiver are mutual beneficiaries.
The Departmental Vigilance Officers (DVOs) have a great role to play as they have been mandated to look after the departmental affairs with the objective to scamper chances of wrongdoing at the departmental level. However, in actual practice, most of the department shields their corrupt officials instead of exposing them. It’s time to redefine the role of DVOs and law officers and also make them accountable for the wrongdoing in their departments.
Justice Surinder Singh Nijjar and Justice Dipankar Datta in the petition titled University of Calcutta versus Pritam Rooj rightly observed, “…there has been a constant demand for openness and transparency in the Government’s functioning and a positive participation of the people is necessary for a democratic state. It is healthy to have suspicion and it is for the Government to establish that any and every action taken by it is in public interest and, therefore, there is nothing to hide. Secrecy is an exception for which there must be a justification. Disclosures serve an important aspect of public interest.” Hence, transparency and strict accountability of one and all is the way forward for a corruption free society.
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