Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, Sept 1: The internal vigilance of the Government departments is of much importance in a State like Jammu and Kashmir, which figures on the top of the list of most corrupt States of the country but shockingly this mechanism has remained confined to the papers only. This is mainly because the institution of Departmental Vigilance Officers (DVOs) established a decade back has yet not started delivering the intended results despite the fact that corruption related cases are on rise during the past some years.
The internal vigilance of Government departments mostly depends upon the enforcement of the supervision in accordance with the rules and putting in place the element of accountability at various levels.
This coupled with the successful detection, investigation and prosecution of cases of misuse of official position and corrupt practices can definitely improve the ratings as a better administered, good governed and transparent public administration.
Keeping all this in mind, the institution of Department Vigilance Officers (DVOs) was formally established in Jammu and Kashmir vide Circular No.14 dated June 19, 2002 issued by the General Administration Department, which also delineated the duties and responsibilities of DVOs, authoritative sources told EXCELSIOR.
Earlier also GAD vide its Circular No.12 dated February 22, 1994 had advised various Government departments for designating DVOs in their respective offices for conducting verification into complaints against Government officials.
However, it was only after the issuance of GAD Circular No.12 dated May 26, 2003 that the need for internal vigilance in various departments and Public Sector Undertakings was emphasized and the Vigilance Organization requested almost all the Government departments and PSUs to nominate DVOs in a three tier system at the State, Provincial and District level as far as applicable to the hierarchical set up of the respective departments.
Shockingly, only holding of biannual Departmental Vigilance Officers conference has been institutionalized till date, sources said, adding “this institution during the past one decade has only taken its conceptual shape and it is yet to start delivering the intended results. On the other-side, the corruption has spread its tentacles during this period therefore indicating that steps required to fight this menace are still inadequate”.
According to the official data, the copy of which is available with EXCELSIOR, State Vigilance Organization referred 686 complaints for Departmental Verification between January 1, 2014 to June 30, 2014 but reports have been received only in 51 complaints. The prevailing situation puts a huge question mark on tall claims of the Government about taking adequate measures for eradication of menace of corruption.
The non-serious approach towards the complaints referred by Vigilance Organization is notwithstanding the fact that these complaints are against 361 Gazetted Officers and 269 Non-Gazetted Officers.
Majority of corruption related complaints pertain to Revenue Department with the number at 132 involving 67 Gazetted Officers and 50 Non-Gazetted Officers. However, the department has responded in respect of only 8 cases.
Rural Development Department is the second most corrupt department as per the number of complaints received and forwarded by the State Vigilance Organization. The SVO referred 95 complaints in six months to Rural Development Department involving 66 Gazetted and 29 Non-Gazetted Officers but the Department has responded only in three cases.
The number three position in the list of corrupt departments has been occupied by the Education Department, which was referred 94 complaints by the Vigilance Organization in six months involving 64 Gazetted Officers and 28 Non-Gazetted Officers. However, the department has responded only in respect of five cases thereby shielding large number of officers and officials facing corruption allegations.
The interesting aspect is that SVO referred 40 complaints to the Police Department involving 3 Gazetted and 37 Non-Gazetted Officers but the Department responded only in respect of 4 cases. This clearly established that even Police Department is not ready to fight the menace of corruption.
The other departments figuring ‘prominently’ in the list but not interested in taking action on the complaints referred for Departmental Verification by the State Vigilance Organization, are Forest/SFC, Social Welfare, Health, Food and Supplies, Power Development Department, Municipalities etc.
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