NEWS > 08 November 2005

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Afternoon Dispatch & Courier,
08 November 2005

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Anti-Corruption Bureau is just

Inaugurating the official website of the Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB), Deputy Chief Minister R.R. Patil expressed the need to have more officers with high integrity to work in the Anti Corruption Department in order to combat corruption.
The website which will enable the common man to lodge online complaints with ACB was inaugurated as part of the ACB�s �Vigilance Awareness Week� 2005 between November 7 and 12.
Patil said that the constitution had given equal right to every citizen - whether it is Tata, Birla, the President or a sweeper - the equal right to vote. But in reality, the scenario was different. �Even in cases where officers are caught red-handed, sanction is required from the head of the concerned department to prosecute them. It takes years for the file to get cleared at Mantralaya. It is like trying to run a race with both legs tied. The situation needs to be changed,� said Patil.
He added that though there were people with high integrity, the way things were, the extent
of corruption was discouraging. Patil noted that ACB needed to be strengthened and it did not require a budget to function effectively. He assured of government�s help to implement the system of reward to those helping the department fight corruption.
�In five years, there are 2,800 people trapped in as many cases by the ACB. But that is not encouraging. The one who gets caught is the thief, the one who doesn�t is not,� said Patil, adding that the figures were misleading as everyone knows that from the birth certificate, to admission in schools and even for death certificates one needs to bribe.
The situation is such that if some work is done without money changing hands, we feel that something is missing. The DCM expressed hope that the work of ACB could be better if the law were made such that there were no loopholes to delay justice.
�Maybe people who enacted the law wanted the complainant to lodge complaint of a corrupt subordinate to his senior officer but the person demanding Rs. 30 gets caught but the one demanding Rs. 30 lakh never gets trapped. Then where should the common man go? He gets his work done by paying money. Thus corruption increases. It has become an integral part of our system,� said Patil.
He said that the question was from where to begin when the entire system encouraged corruption. What was needed was a step or two so that the common man could come forward.
Appreciating the fact that the conviction rate was good as far as Maharashtra was concerned, Patil said that Mumbai police did an excellent job in ensuring law and order in the city during the festivals season of Diwali and Id. He also expressed concern over the media not taking cognisance of the good work done by the department.
Patil said that more cases against police could be attributed to the fact that police in the ACB knew the modus operandi of police. He said that police were second after the revenue but corruption prevails in departments such as Income Tax and Sales Tax that the website was a good thing but that it was added responsibility as well. However, since in those departments everyone benefits by corrupt means, nobody bothers to complain. The DCM said that since the web site was launched, it would be added responsibility for ACB as it will have to answer all the queries and take action on al the complaints lodged through the website.
Other dignitaries who attended the function were Director Anti Corruption Virkar, Director General of Police Dr P.S. Pasricha and Additional Chief Secretary (Home) A.P. Sinha. All of them expressed the need for people to come forward to combat corruption.
The DGP said that corruption is the hurdle in the way of development of the nation. He said that transparency, character of officers and cooperation and willing participation of people could help improve India�s image.

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Article sourced from

Afternoon Dispatch & Courier,08 November 2005

Anti-Corruption Bureau is just

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Afternoon Dispatch & Courier,
08 November 2005