TOI : Police dept is most corrupt in city : Nov 14,2007
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Mumbai: The police department has topped the list of most corrupt government departments in Mumbai this year. Next in line is the revenue department. The revenue department, which had been topping the charts of the Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) for the last two years, has slipped to the second place. The BMC came third. The list was issued by the ACB on the eve of the Vigilance Awareness Week in the presence of home minister R R Patil at the Police Gymkhana in Marine Drive on Tuesday evening.
Of the 134 policemen caught this year by the ACB, 106 are class III employees (constables) and 10 are class I officers. These include senior inspectors Anand Chavan of Kherwadi and Liyakat Shaikh of Borivli police station.
Of the 76 revenue department employees, only two belonged to class I, while the rest were class III employees. BMC stood third in the list of corrupt departments. As many as 49 employees were trapped by the ACB. There was only a single class I officer indicating that more and more staffers at the lower level are indulging in corrupt practices.
The awareness week is organised every year after October 31 which is the birthday of Sardar Vallabhai Patel. This year, it is from November 12 to 16. “The purpose is to achieve the objective of creating adequate awareness about the menace of corruption and means to fight it,’’ said Patil. During this week, the ACB displays awareness messages to fight corruption in public places and TV channels. The ACB, headquartered at Madhu Industrial Estate in Worli, says that now one can even lodge a complaint through e-mail on www.acbmaharashtra.org.in or over the phone by dialing 24921212.
Publication:Times of India Mumbai; Date:Nov 14, 2007; Section:Times City; Page Number:5