Publication: KERALA CALLING ,MARCH 2020
Our Government took office with a mandate to transform Kerala for the better; to realize a NavaKeralam. We have been upholding that mandate ever since. The change is palpable in our society. The tremendous progress that we have achieved in this three and a half years is best understood when you compare it with the time of the previous government, or with past governments. The progress made during this period has been a comprehensive one. The State has made impressive gains in education, health care, poverty alleviation, environment protection, IT, infrastructure, housing for poor, gender equality, e-governance, digital equality, disaster preparedness, disaster management and anti-corruption; this is by no means an exhaustive list but an outline of the transformation underway. The model we are advancing is an inclusive people-centric one. A determinant factor behind this success has been the absence of corruption in governance.
Kerala was ranked as the least corrupt state in India in the India Corruption Survey 2019 conducted by the Transparency International India along with Local Circles. The survey was focused on the corruption experienced by the ‘Common Man’ in getting services from various service-providers, i.e., Government departments. The ranking is a proof for the fact that our efforts in eradicating corruption from government machinery are bearing fruits. The study also testifies that 90% of the respondents in Kerala never had to experience any kind of corruption. This has been achieved through various measures that we have undertaken in these last few years; including public awareness campaigns.
We have strengthened our Vigilance & Anti-corruption Bureau, which is responsible for the investigation and prevention of corruption in the State. This bureau also gives residents the opportunity to file complaints, check status of complaints as well as file FIR on an online portal. In addition, an e-petition (www.publicvig.in) for registering the complaints through the website is in place and the complaints are forwarded to the IAPS (Internal Administrative Processing System) of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau Unit Offices for speedy processing.
Vigilance & Anti-Corruption Bureau registers cases under the Prevention of Corruption Act 1988 act on finding prima facie evidence of criminal misconduct by Public Servants, after conducting Vigilance Enquiry/Confidential Verification/Surprise Check/Quick Verification and on receipt of information of demand and acceptance of bribe by Public Servants. Vigilance Cases are registered by the Unit Officers, after getting sanction from the Director of the Bureau, based on the evidence available. In Trap Cases, the Unit Officers are authorized to register Cases Suo-moto. The Bureau also collects intelligence about corrupt officials and proceeds. During this government’s tenure so far we have registered 591 cases.
The cooperation on the part of our civil servants is yet another reason for this reduced corruption rate. I had earlier urged the officers’ association to take a strong stand against graft in the civil services. We have strengthened our e-governance systems and soon we will be a fully e-governed state. This has also helped us to reduce the delay in file movements and helped to streamline the process.
I had said this earlier on various occasions that our aim is not to reduce corruption but to eradicate it completely. I hope that with the help of the people and the officials, it will be a realistic and achievable goal.
