| Corruption ROKO – Corruption Report On Karmayog Online | |
| Form No. 0071 | Sunday, August 24, 2008 |
| Nagercoil Municipality, Nagercoil 629003, TN | |
| We have received a complaint as per the details below. The filled form will also be displayed at www.karmayog.org/roko along with any feedback that is received from the concerned government authorities. |
| A: Details of the government organisation | |
| 1. Name of government organisation: | Nagercoil Municipality |
| 2. State: | Tamil Nadu |
| 3. City: | Nagercoil 629003 |
| 4. Department: | Revenue Department |
| 5. Location: | Balamore Road |
| 6. Designation of government officer involved: | Revenue Officials |
| 7. Website: | Nil |
| 8. Address of the government organisation: | Nagercoil Municipality, Balamore Road, Nagercoil 629003 Kanyakumari District Tamil Nadu |
| B: My Complaint Details | |
| 1. Period of incident: | Before 2007 |
| 2. Services that were sought: | I wanted the Nagercoil Municipality to assess my house for property tax so that I could get a house number and municipal water supply connection. |
| 3. Problem/s I faced: | I submitted my first application in June 2002 to the Nagercoil Municipality for property tax assessment, which has no system of giving a receipt for applications submitted. I had to go back to Goa to continue my work with the Goa Institute of Management. On 07.07.2004, I sent a letter to the Vigilance Office, Nagercoil 3, and requested an investigation into possible corruption on property tax and water connections. 02.02.2006, I sent an advocate notice to the Chairperson, Nagercoil Municipality, seeking explanation for non-property tax assessment and trespass made by it for giving water connections, which was not answered. On 14.08.2006, I sent a petition to the Chairperson, Nagercoil Municipality, and requesting the implementation of Order 56 (levying tax at the rate of Rs.2 per sq. ft.). It took about ten months (17.11.2006 – 14.09.2007) to get my house assessed for property tax by appealing to the Pu blic Information Office by invoking the Right to Information Act 2005. A study of the tax information given to me showed that while the residents who built houses at about the same time or later were levied property tax at the rate of Rs.0.25 (a quarter of a rupee) per square feet, whereas the Nagercoil Municipality levied Rs.2 (Rupees two) per square feet for my house. I brought the matter to the Central Vigilance Commission, New Delhi, and the Prime Minister of India, which culminated in the current revaluation of property taxes. |
| 4. Bribe amount: | Not specified. The bribe abount varies from depending on the owner, size, approved land or not, etc. |
| 5 a. Was the bribe paid? | No |
| 5 b. Could the work have been done without paying the bribe? If so, how? | Using the Right to Information Act 2005. |
| 6. Result: | My house was assessed for house tax that was more than ten times that others who had paid a bribe. |
| C: Additional Informtion attached | |
| Details of Content: | A report titled: Corruption: Nagercoil Municipality: A Sense of Shame on Local Administration |
| D: My Suggestions | |
| 1. For head of government department: | |
| Suggestion 1: | Human Resource Mangement : Appoint qualified personnel (M.B.A. in Public Administration) with adequate knowledge of methods Engineering, Systems–Fraud prevention and Detection), and People Capability Maturity Model as the Chief Executive (Commissioner). |
| Suggestion 2: | Appropriate systems (Methods, and Information Audit) should be in the right place and time. Strip of all the executive powers from the council members – their roles should be purely one of information feeding on behalf of their ward members whom they serve. Councilors should abide by the procedures designed and implemented using methods engineering. e.g. to issue directions to government department; to catch the corrupt official/s, etc. |
| Suggestion 3: | Select a few from the same locality e.g, the six house owners (347F, 347E, 347H, 347G.I, 347G, 347J and 348, Kattayan Vilai, Nagercoil who paid a low tax and obtained municipal water supply connection by bending the rules, to the Vigilance office, give them each a paper and a pencil, and ask them write HOW they got such low taxes, WHO helped them and WHY they resorted to paying a bribe. Then query them at the individually and record their contradictions. THE TRUTH WILL EMERGE |
| 2. For the Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) / Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI): | |
| Suggestion 1: | The ACB and the CBI should take preemptive and preventive action by seeking information from the public and protect and reward them. “Carrots OR Sticks” should be the policy. |
| 3. For other citizens: | |
| Suggestion 1: | Whistle blowing on the web. Use anonymous whistle blowing when feasible, which would be an ideal starting point. Be truthful in reporting (be prepared to support your reporting by evidence. For example, see my web page: http://WhistlerQuiTam.googlepages.com/ |
| E: My Contact details | |
| Name: | J. Donald Somasundaram |
| Profession: | Systems and Industrial Engineer |
| Phone: | 04652 225608 |
| Tamil Nadu, Nagercoil, Sunday, August 24, 2008 | |