Observance of Vigilance Week reduced to a parody
Vigilance Week has been observing every year by the Chandigarh Administration since 2000. Though the vigilance commission is of the view that corruption is a serious unethical practice yet public trust in public servants is at low ebb.
Does the observance of ‘Vigilance Awareness Week’ by the Administration to take steps to check corruption on the Central Vigilance Commission guidelines have any relevance when public trust on public servants stands at 4.84 per cent. A number of public servants is tainted and hold public dealing seats for many years? Despite this there is no decline in corruption indices.
The Administration has been ignoring CVC instruction on very sensitive posts. According to CVC instructions, an official cannot remain on any sensitive seat or more than three years at a stretch and tainted official should not hold public dealing seat.
There are rules for compulsory retirement of ‘corrupt officials’ and are applicable to Chandigarh but for the past 38 years no such official had shown the door before his retirement.
Not only ‘tainted officials’ are still at the helm of affairs in the Administration and are sitting pretty comfortably on their seats in every departments but most undeserved babus were being honoured on Independence and Republic Day.
Police department tops the list and followed by estate office. In the cooperative department, against two officials of the department has registered an FIR. But to talk of compulsory retirement, they were given two years extension in service after retirement.
Some officials of education department are facing vigilance inquiry. An official who is facing vigilance enquiry retired in July this year still continue coming to office with a hope of clearance from the vigilance department and get the benefit of two years extension in service.
The Under Secretary, Home, Chandigarh vide his letter No 4991 dated 25.3.2010 has directed the registrar to initiate criminal proceedings against some of the officials.
In many cases, the departments were willing to transfer such officials despite strict CVC instructions. The big question is—if the Administration is following these instructions then why it shies away from taking action?
In a number of cases officials have been on the seats for more than 15 years. Who faced the heat of corruption earlier will soon retire from the same post.
Observance of Vigilance Week reduced to a parody
A number of officials are in the dock when Ministry of Home Affairs has sought report of ongoing projects in the city. On anonymity, a official said that if half as much vigilance had exercised in departments during all these years, it would have been more success and there arose no need of observance of “Vigilance Awareness Week.”
