Text alert: ACB spreads the message
Mumbai: You might have come across corruption several times in everyday life, but not known what to do. But with your cellphone providing instructions, it becomes easier to take the next step.
Using this concept, the anticorruption bureau recently tied up with leading mobile service providers to send text messages to their subscribers, with precise details on how to report corruption in government departments. The messages reached out to 3-4 million Mumbaikars and the project has already received tremendous response.
“We had taken up the initiative as part of the ACB’s Vigilance Awareness week in mid-November. We already have posters and documentary films on the topic, but wanted to reach out to a wider audience. What better way than to contact people through a text message, since cellphones are an inseparable part of our lives now,’’ said additional deputy commissioner Sanjay Parande.
The message sent was simple and to the point. It listed the ACB’s Mumbai office number 24921212 and their web address http://acbmaharashtra.org/ and urged citizens to help the ACB counter corruption by refusing to pay bribes, and lodging a complaint against those demanding bribes.
Since the time the messages were sent last week, the ACB’s phones have not stopped ringing. “Some people called up to inquire why the message was being sent to them, while others wanted to know how they could go about registering a complaint,’’ an official said.
Last year too, the ACB had undertaken the SMS-project for a few days and even managed to net an offender. “There was this elderly man who had visited a government office but was thoroughly dejected when his file wouldn’t move without paying a bribe in cash. As he was climbing down the steps of the office, his cellphone beeped and he received the ACB message. The gent immediately approached us and we laid a trap, successfuly arresting the offender,’’ Parande said.
To send the messages, the ACB first writes letters to all service providers, giving details about the project. This year, BPL Mobile and Reliance Communication have taken it up as part of their corporate social responsibility. The messages were sent for a period of 10 days in November.
“We have sent the messages to our entire base of subscribers in Mumbai, which is over 2.5 million,’’ a company source from Reliance Communications said. BPL Mobile CEO S Subramanium added that subscribers who have chosen the “National Do Not Call (NDNC)’’ facility are not disturbed. “Even excluding the NDNC subscribers, more than a million citizens would have received the ACB message,’’ he said. The companies do not charge the ACB anything, incurring the cost of sending the text message themselves.
Reliance Communications had come up with three different versions of messages: a short one with an element of surprise which was sent before the Vigilance Awareness Week began on November 12 and more detailed ones towards the end of the week.
Interestingly, the highest number of offenders trapped by the ACB this year were police officials, with the revenue department coming a close second.
Using this concept, the anticorruption bureau recently tied up with leading mobile service providers to send text messages to their subscribers, with precise details on how to report corruption in government departments. The messages reached out to 3-4 million Mumbaikars and the project has already received tremendous response.
“We had taken up the initiative as part of the ACB’s Vigilance Awareness week in mid-November. We already have posters and documentary films on the topic, but wanted to reach out to a wider audience. What better way than to contact people through a text message, since cellphones are an inseparable part of our lives now,’’ said additional deputy commissioner Sanjay Parande.
The message sent was simple and to the point. It listed the ACB’s Mumbai office number 24921212 and their web address http://acbmaharashtra.org/ and urged citizens to help the ACB counter corruption by refusing to pay bribes, and lodging a complaint against those demanding bribes.
Since the time the messages were sent last week, the ACB’s phones have not stopped ringing. “Some people called up to inquire why the message was being sent to them, while others wanted to know how they could go about registering a complaint,’’ an official said.
Last year too, the ACB had undertaken the SMS-project for a few days and even managed to net an offender. “There was this elderly man who had visited a government office but was thoroughly dejected when his file wouldn’t move without paying a bribe in cash. As he was climbing down the steps of the office, his cellphone beeped and he received the ACB message. The gent immediately approached us and we laid a trap, successfuly arresting the offender,’’ Parande said.
To send the messages, the ACB first writes letters to all service providers, giving details about the project. This year, BPL Mobile and Reliance Communication have taken it up as part of their corporate social responsibility. The messages were sent for a period of 10 days in November.
“We have sent the messages to our entire base of subscribers in Mumbai, which is over 2.5 million,’’ a company source from Reliance Communications said. BPL Mobile CEO S Subramanium added that subscribers who have chosen the “National Do Not Call (NDNC)’’ facility are not disturbed. “Even excluding the NDNC subscribers, more than a million citizens would have received the ACB message,’’ he said. The companies do not charge the ACB anything, incurring the cost of sending the text message themselves.
Reliance Communications had come up with three different versions of messages: a short one with an element of surprise which was sent before the Vigilance Awareness Week began on November 12 and more detailed ones towards the end of the week.
Interestingly, the highest number of offenders trapped by the ACB this year were police officials, with the revenue department coming a close second.