From: Karmayog.org
Sent: Friday, March 02, 2007 10:15 AM
To: info@karmayog.com
Subject: Pl suggest systemic changes in Govt. procedures to reduce Corruption
One of the focus areas of the Anti Corruption Bureau, Maharashtra, is to “Exercise Effective Corruption Control”. This can be done by ensuring that Government departments are made citizen friendly and their procedures are designed so as to minimize opportunities for corrupt practices.
The Mumbai – Pact Against Corruption (M-PAC), which is a collaboration between the Anti-Corruption Bureau and the NGO Council and Karmayog, invites you to suggest systemic changes for improving procedures in Government Departments.
All suggestions received will be compiled and discussed with the ACB, after which the ACB will take up the same with the concerned Government Department and Ministry.
Examples of some of the areas where citizens have consistently been expressing difficulties include: the Octroi Department, the Regional Transport Office, the Building Proposals Department of the BMC, the SRA, etc.
Please be specific in your suggestion regarding particular Government Offices e.g.
– which are the points of corruption there, why, and how should the procedure be changed
– what other steps e.g. disseminating information, changes in policy should be done by them
Examples of good procedures and best practices that you have experienced would also be welcome.
M-PAC details are at www.karmayog.org/m-pac/
Other information is at www.karmayog.org/anticorruption/
ACB news are at www.karmayog.org/acbnews/
Let’s not be sceptical about curtailing corruption.
Corruption is caused due to gaps in procedures. That’s it. It’s that simple and straightforward.
Laws which are fair, and implementation procedures which are well thought out. That’s usually all what’s needed.
Regards,
Vinay
Responses (1-20) :
1.
From: Aditron
It is valid for all the deptts
1- the public should not visit any govt official
2- they should send an e mail with copy to ne more responsible officer for infomation
3- reply should be mandatory in 7–15–30 days—-
4- e mail can sent from pco— etc etc– or help desk in the deptt— thay should charge rs 10/- for each e mail being sent to the deptt– and keep a track of reply— they may chrge rs 5/-per or ngo will take his work– to stop corruption
5- all govt officers and their blood relations- and first cousins—in laws should inform their saving account no—- there worth as on date–in affidavit form.
6- all purchase above rs 5000/- hould be from bank dd drafts—available free of cost from banks– name of the borrower — mentioned on it
Aroon kumar
New delhi
aditron@aditron.com
2.
From: Capt.Vivek P.Bhide
I must applaud the organisation for taking constructive steps for overall bettterment of the society.
In regards to enclosed Email in regards to pact with anti-corruption I am of the opinion that the war against it have to be fought at different levels and battlefield is Human Mind.
Corruption stems from Citizens requiring shortcuts to success.Every department that you have mentioned I believe that procedures are fair. Of course there is always room to simplify further but generally It is the citizens who are not law abiding and require favours from the powers to be.
We need to educate citizens first in do’s and don’ts to stop corruption or should I say reduce it.
Vivek
[There are different reasons why citizens are corrupt. The primary one is that procedures in government (or even in private orgs) are faulty. Vinay]
3.
From: Noshir Dhabhar
- First the principle ofaccountabilityin all offices should be introduced with time limited factors.
- All applications if accompanied by proper attachments are there as required by the department must be cleared within a specified time frame.
- Passing of papers after time frame should be explained by the concerned person.
[reg. a), how can the ‘principle’ of accountability be translated to ‘practice’? Vinay]
4.
From: Dayashree Enterprises
Any amount of carrot and stick rules will not avoid corruprion at the lower levels of administration. For example from the regular postman to officials in octroi, sales tax, service tax ask for bribes unashamedly in the name of ‘chai-pani’ expenses. This is what hurting the common man from dealing with the govt. offices.They can not refuse if bribe is demanded fearing the repurcussions that cause more harm to them than throwing away a few rupees as they give alms to beggars and getting onwith their work.They have no respect for these officials nor do the officials care!
I suggest that first the law should be amended as ‘ only the bribe taker is punishable and not the bribe giver’. this would make the bribe givers to come out boldly in lodging a complaint when bribes are demanded.The bribe seaker will be scared to demand.
Secondly the bribe seekers are to be branded as ‘BEGGARS’ and in all govt. offices and public places a notice board/placards shoud be displayed
‘ BRIBE SEEKERS ARE BEGGARS. DO NOT ENCOURAGE THEM. REPORT THEM TO THE DESIGNATED OFFICE. YOU ARE SAFE FROM PROSECUTION.’
At least such a derogatory announcement should dissuade the corrupt from demanding – if they care for any self respect.
Vijayan
dayashree@hotmail.com
[This is one line of thought but which is difficult to implement. And anyway, the bribe takers do not care for self-respect.
We want to probe how procedures can be improved. Thanks. Vinay]
5.
From: VijayMeghani
Dear Vinay
Given the History and Nature of Government in our country, THERE WILL ALWAYS BE CORRUPTION & THE TEMPTATION TO MISUSE POWERS. I believe that the ONLY WAY to curb these in every instance will be through ensuring as much TRANSPARENCY and therefore OPEN ACCOUNTABILITY as possible i.e. BY MAKING IT easy for the lay citizen to easily see what his rights are and as easily RECORD & REPORT perceived NON-PERFORMANCE, CORRUPTION or MISUSE of POWERS.
Here TECHNOLOGY holds the only answer for this. Therefore every citizens’ body should relentlessly insist on nothing short of COMPREHENSIVE E-GOVERNANCE with INTERACTIVE WEBSITES being applied to every aspect of the working of every single major public authority or service.
Vijay
vijaymeghani@hotmail.com
[Yes, but someone has to state what is the practical meaning of COMPREHENSIVE E-GOVERNANCE and INTERACTIVE WEBSITES. Neither govt orgs or citizen bodies seem to know that. That’s why we are asking for ACTUAL suggestions which are department specific. Regards, Vinay]
6.
From: Poodipedi Devi
Corruption thrives when the top managament is either corrupt or inefficient so one can start at the top.
Prof P Suvarna Devi
drsuvarnadevi@yahoo.com
Prof and Head (retd),Dept of pediatrics
MKCG MEDICAL COLLEGE,BERHAMPUR,ORISSA
current address: 53, gajapati Nagar
BERHAMPUR, GANJAM DIST, ORISSA
760010
phone 0680 2200955(r)
[That is the exact myth that needs to be dispelled.
I would find it hard to swallow that Kalam, Manmohan Singh or Chidambaram are either corrupt or inefficient.
The problem is that in most government departments, the bureaucrat at the top is a good, relatively honest, competent, sincere IAS officer. But because he/she is there for only 2-3 years, they don’t know
- a) how the system of that department works and by the time they understand it, it’s time for them to leave,
- b) they don’t know whom they can trust (internally or externally) i.e. who has what hidden agenda, so they don’t know where to look for support,
- c) they can’t see or pull up people at levels which are beyond 2 below them in the heirarchy,
- d) they do not have budgets to employ professional consultants or service providers to analyse the gaps and implement new systems,
- e) they do not have competent or willing juniors because those are some combination of corrupt or lazy (due to guaranteed employment),
- f) they can’t easily figure out where all the internal systems are broken because they themselves do not have to deal with their departments as an outsider does e.g. unless enough people complain to them that so and so person or department is holding up work, they will not know easily know about it, etc. etc.
So the first valuable step would be if you would sit down and make a list of all the places where your ex-medical college creates problems due to improper policies and procedures, we can move forward. Vinay]
7.
From: Sivaram
Curtailing corruption is very difficult.
So many people talk and talk about it but it never came down.
By and large nothing works easily in BMC or RTO unless you grease the palms of some one there.You can see so many shops on the Pavements and near Mandirs and no asks about the legality of them.
Even so they occupy on the top of the Drainages and I am sure some one in BMC looks the other way.
Where as we have to grease some one there to get a Shop and Est. registration.
I do not know as to where to go.
Sivaram.V
[So when you go to get your Shop and Est. licence, please make a note of all the places where you were asked for a bribe and please also give suggestions how that could have been avoided by better procedures, e.g. display of procedures on a notice board, downloading and uploading of forms, etc. etc. Thanks, Vinay]
8.
From: “psych doc”
Use Applied Behavioral methods to bring the change.
For example, reinforce (reward) the specific and
defined behaviors that don’t involve bribe-taking. The
reward should be IMMEDIATE. Size of reward doesn’t
matter. It can even be social. These can be later
backed up with medals on republic and independence
days. There is a journal (quarterly) called Journal of
Applied Behavioral Analysis from USA dealing with
behavior change.
Ratan Singh
Phone: 91 141 2652561
Address: 7- NA- 16
Jawahar Nagar
Jaipur- 302004 INDIA
———-
– Certificate in Food & Nutrition;
– Author of “Nutrition & Supplements in Major Mental Illnesses”;
– M.A. (Psychol), Postgraduate Diploma in Medical & Social Psychology,
Ph.D.;
– Certified Behavior Therapist (from late Prof. J. Wolpe’s Unit, Temple
University Medical School, Philadelphia, USA);
– Hypnotist, Biofeedback and Meditation Therapist.
– Family, Marital and Sex Therapist.
->Consultant Nutritional & Clinical Psychologist in Jaipur Hospital, India.
psych_58@…,
www.jaipurmart.com/trade/meditationandhealth,
meditationandcancer-subscribe@egroups.com
[Good theory. But how to specifically do that. If, for instance, you could
explain it in the context of Jaipur Hospital, we could see how to take it
forward with other municipal hospitals. Regards, Vinay]
9.
From: V Sarangapani
A few suggestions
1. Minimise points of direct contact with Govt. officials by enabling citizens to access government services electronically whever possible. If possible avoid need for direct contacts
2. Set up time limit at each stage fro action by each concerned official. If the time limit exceeds, the matter shall get escalated to higher official.
3. The status of any work shall be made available to the citizens as abd when it moves.
The above can be acheived by adopting electronic workflows in Government departments
Vijayaraghavan Sarangapani
Tata Consultancy Services
Cell:- 9820091867
Mailto: v.sarangapani@tcs.com
Website: http://www.tcs.com/
[Good points. Mr. Mhatre of TCS 9820505357 / 56240194 is in charge of doing all this and more at BMC. They have a Rs. 100 crore budget. It would be interesting and useful if you could find out informally from him and his team about their experiences and learnings, and the attitudes of BMC staff at all levels as TCS is going about implementing this. Also why BMC is not involving citizen bodies in the development of the citizen’s portal. Which stakeholders are contributing to the specifications? Are those really adequately representative and knowledgeable and without vested interests? If you could share that with us in a generic way, it would be of great help to all. Thanks. Vinay]
10.
From: Rachit Visaria
I would suggest to take strict action when you catch some person while taking bribes.and I don’t know where to go if I see people taking bribe whom should we complain so may be we should make a special cell for the same whom people can complain about corrupt government employee. I have number people’s list who are from different government bodies, I can help you by giving their identity.these men are from police station,gov. hospitals, railways etc whom I myself gave money to do my work. For catching more people you can send your men and ask them to give bribe and catch the employee taking bribe red handed .i can help you in these matter, I have different plan. so pls revert to me if you need my help.
Rachit Visaria
rachith@TechMahindra.com
NRS- NRMS
91-022-66882562 (DID)
01908559628 (UK)
TechMahindra – Mumbai
[Oh, very very strict action is possible. Please see the links that were there in the mail or see the ACB website at www.acbmaharashtra.org .
We do need your help. Please contact Mr. Tupe at ACB by phone to take the matter forward and keep me informed about how it goes.
Anti Corruption Bureau, Maharashtra, Madhu Industrial Estate, 1st Floor, Pandurang Budhkar Marg, Worli, Mumbai 400 013. Tel: 24921212, 24922618, Fax: 2492776. Email: acbwebmail@… Website: http://www.acbmaharashtra.org/ Toll-free phone line 1-800-222021. Regards. Vinay. https://www.karmayog.org/ ]
11.
From: Sridhar Iyer
On the issue of RTO & Registration, thought i should share couple of my observations
Problem : Registration Tax
a) The Registration tax has to be paid all over again when a car is transferred from one state to the other. While the original reason for this tax is to avoid arbitrage for eg: one could register the car in say Silvassa where the tax would be nil and then transfer the car to Mumbai.
however, the registration is computed on the original cost of the car irrespective of the age of a car, which is quite ridiculous and a possible source of corruption
let us assume i purchase a car in Delhi for Rs. 5 lacs in 2000. The car value in 2007 would at best be Rs. 0.75 lacs. but if the car is transferred to Mumbai, the registration tax would have to be paid on Rs. 5 lacs and the tax may be more than the value of the car itself!
Proposed Solution: to avoid arbitrage, the tax could be on original cost for the first two years and then on a the depreciated value say 10% to be reduced from cost, on completion of each year.
Problem : Car Transfer & cancellation of tranfer requests.
The RTO act in Delhi permits one to apply for a car transfer. but strangely the act is silent about cancellation of transfer requests. I was to be transferred to Mumbai and hence proactively applied for a transfer of my car. subsequently the transfer was cancelled. when i approached the Delhi RTO they informed that the transfer approval was sent to Mumbai RTO and there was no way i could cancel the tranfer.
Proposed Solution: The RTO Act should have a specific provision for cancellation of transfers. At best it means that RTO Delhi would have to send one more intimation to RTO Mumbai informing them of the cancellation. They could charge a processing fee of say Rs. 1,000/- to cover the administrative costs.
Hope you would be able to take these issues up.
Sridhar
Sridhar.Iyer@in.ey.com
Tel : 0124 457 5070 / 93130 44716
[Thanks. Will try. One, of course, has to wonder why the powerful and vocal WIAA does not agree with you. Vinay]
12.
From: ~rAjOo~
To: Karmayog.org
Sent: Friday, March 02, 2007 2:04 PM
Subject: Re: Pl suggest systemic changes in Govt. procedures to reduce Corruption
My input is that ACB also cover semi-central government organizations, especially in Bombay, prime examples of which are Export Promotion Council, most of these are very badly managed, bogged down by corruption, favoritism and nepotism.
The other area are the city colleges, eg. Jai Hind College, Hinduja College, etc. where Principals themselves are directly involved in taking bribes, even from needy students.
gunwanti@hotmail.com
[ Thanks.
- Semi-central govt orgs must be coming under some anti-corruption body e.g. CBI. I can find out if useful for you.
- Pl advise some specific (but generic) instances where all EPC extracts money from exporters.
- The accusation against principals of city colleges is severe. Do you know any students or ex-students who will come forward to vouch for this via their own experiences?
Vinay]
13.
From: Dev
As you said – “Corruption is caused due to gaps in procedures. That’s it. It’s that simple and straightforward.
Laws which are fair, and implementation procedures which are well thought out. That’s usually all what’s needed”
Without undermining sanctity of your wisdom and with due regard, I want to say that gaps in the procedures merely allow ‘corruption’ to creep in. it’s the superstructure superimposed over the structural mechanism (law, rules, procedures etc. etc.) is the root cause. Even , if we , plug in all the gaps , the superstructure will generate pressure on this structural mechanism (law, rules, procedures etc. etc.) and re-module it as per its very own volition.
So , Its time to think about the superstructure?
Devendra Sharma
devbhardwaz@ricmail.com
Managing Partner
Grand Indus Jurix
[Yes, I agree. Policies, laws are indeed the starting points. But I wouldn’t expect people to respond to policy-level inputs via such an emailing, so I thought that at least start with procedures because that is an area where each of us can contribute to an improvement. It only means taking the effort to type.
Moreover, the common man is most affected by corruption at the level of procedures and not at the level of law or policy.
If, however, you can suggest something (reg. law or procedure) in the case of courts, judiciary, etc., it will be useful to get that so as to start a discussion.
Regards, Vinay]
14.
From: Arun Diaz
One way of minimizing corruption is to reduce the areas where government employees are allowed to exercise their discretion.
One example is in Property Taxes. TMC has decided to raise the property tax rate from Rs 4 per sq ft to Rs 7 per sq ft. TMC staff approached us saying they would assess us at Rs 4 per sq ft if we were prepared to pay them half of what we save. Since we refused to do so, we were charged Rs 7 per sq ft. However, we know for a fact that all our neigbours are paying Rs 4 per sq ft. I am proposing to file an RTI application to establish this before challenging the higher rate in court.
If such discretionary powers were not given to the TMC staff, such a situation would not occur.
Arun Diaz
arundiaz@singnet.com.sg
Mumbai 400 026
Tel: +9122 2351 1882
[I think it is better if we can find a solution which somehow includes discretionary powers e.g. along with a grievance redressal system. Human nature is such that we don’t mind paying the substantial higher fare of a taxi (and even more so that of a pre-paid one) but if an auto-rickshaw charges more, our blood boils. BUT it is not logical. Please suggest some creative way.
‘Discretion’ doesn’t not mean ‘illogical’ or ‘irrational’ or ‘without any need of a reason’ or even ‘unreasonable’.
Of course, you should file your RTI application. Maybe that will be the solution or indicate one. ‘
It again boils down to proper policy and procedures.Regards, Vinay]
15.
From: CDC India
You must think of including corruption in tender process adopted by various government departments. Except few, others are not following guidelines set by Central Vigilance Commission. Other aspect is setting of Pre Qualification Criteria influenced by Corporate groups.
Some governments have adopted another route of favouring by involving institutions like IDFC, ILFC, PDCOR to work in influence of corporate giants or capitalists.
We as organisation working for Urban Development have been raising such issues through media and other forums.
Another good area to fight corruption is land allotments by Government bodies to their favourites.
CDC fought the battle of one such illegal allotment through National Electronic media (Case: Deen Dayal Trust) and got success.
Look forward to more discussion on these issues.
Dr Vivek S Agrawal
cdcindia@hotmail.com
[ Thank you very much.
- What are the CVC tendering guidelines? Any URL?
- How can setting of pre-qualification criteria be improved?
- Why should IDFC, etc. (I don’t understand the acronyms) not be involved?
- What issues have you raised reg. Urban Devp? If you can send a detailed systematic list, we could take it forward.
- Do you have a ready list of examples where land has been alloted wrongly, along with names of recipients?
- Pl send some relevant URL for the Deen Dayal Trust case to add inhttps://www.karmayog.org/.Regards, Vinay]
16.
From: “yatish mehta” <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/karmayog/post?postID=U6766UTnK7PataWBlrbD6RIazFwUUJu-gKX7dlTOn0bU-wY7hoSdur8osnZgEaVoOWfJ66WX43csqlCLRy86>
I am not capable enough to guide someone as I think a change should come
from within by each and every individual. So in short, I am trying myself
to do right things first, which seems to be difficult, but my effort will
continue till the end.
I know my reply may not be enough but for me this is the only thing I have
to say.
Yatish
[ Thanks. Why is it an effort for you to do the right things? Do elaborate.
As a corollary, why is it NOT an effort to do wrong things? Vinay]
1. As a first step, start rewarding the honest. Devise mechanisms for
promotion of honesty as againt promotion of corruption.Stop the subtle
penalisation by transfer, delayed DPCs, non implementation of the
recommendations of the DPCs.
2. Secondly, all brilliant ideas like octroi should be discontinued.
Everybody seems to have some new tax proposals, whereas the citizens is
suffering
atrocious misdemenour of the corrupt. Let the experts suggest some
centralised alternate tax and distribution among all the states.
3. An eye needs to be kept on the doings of the transport and traffic
deparments. Electronic surveillance needs to be mounted.
4. Social bycott of the corrupt is needed.
[ Thanks.
1. Isn’t it a shameful irony that we have to reward the honest? But, you are
right.
2. What will replace the income (which is needed by BMC to provide services)
if there is no octroi? Experts don’t seem to have an easy solution.
Are you against octroi because of the tax or because some bribe-givers get
away without paying the tax or because some bribe-takers make money from it?
3. “Doings” means what? All “doings” by all government orgs need electronic
surveillance then, don’t they?
4. boycott by whom? by the honest? who are these? As a wit remarked, the
only non-corrupt person is the one who has not had an opportunity to be
corrupt.
Vinay]
18.
From: Pesi Padshah
- I was most impressed by the attached article by Arun Firodia in TOI of 28 Feb 2007. It highlights irregularities in the Public Distribution System (PDS), and shows how the major sources of corruption (middle-men and retailers), can be bypassed by the simple method of issuing Entitlement-stamps of the required value, directly to members of the deprived classes, instead of depending on the system of ‘subsidies’ which seldom reach the target groups, because it is manipulated and exploited by corrupt agents.
- The same system of Stamps of required monetary value, can be issued to parents of primary school-going children, so that they may choose a private school instead of below-standard govt. schools (where teachers are incompetent and are absent most of the time), by supplementing the higher fees of the former, with the stamps issued to them.
- Forgery of stamps can be prevented by using holograms as in currency notes.
Pesi Padshah
[Thanks.
- Let’s see what the Rationing Kruti Samiti has to say.
2. Most debatable.
Regards, Vinay]
19.
Name :Mahesh Vijapurkar
Organisation (if any) :Editorial Consultant / Citizen
Email : mvijapurkar@…
Telephone :+91 98201 25688
Subject :Pl suggest systemic changes in Govt. procedures to reduce
corruption
Message :
Simple:
1. Banish touts.
2. Ask Government employees at all levels, do just do the prescribed work
without finding excuses to delay.
3. Remain available and respond to all stakeholders in the society – the
citizens – with the intent to help, not block legitimate requirements.
4. Din into them that they are there to facilitate, not earn extra for doing
prescribed work and
5. Refuse to pay a penny and if demands persist, then complain.
6. No citizen should succumb to such pressure as is put by Government
employees but demand our rights. No more. No less
Mahesh Vijapurkar
[1. How do you banish touts?
2. How to define “prescribed work” and ‘excuses’?
3. The demand would exceed the ability to cope. Who decides ‘legitimate
requirements’?
4. Do you suggest their jobs be terminated or would you not suggest that?
5. Refusing a penny usually costs a dollar.
6. Can you pl give some of your own personal incidents and success stories?
hmmm….. not so simple after all..
Regards, Vinay]
20.
From: “Keshav Acharya” <keshavacharya@…>
Attack the “Gangotri” of corruption
Corruption is the root cause of almost all social evils in our country,
including communal riots. If you are really interested in removing or
reducing the large scale corruption in the country, you must attack the
“Gangotri” of corruption. Corruption starts from above right in the office
of the most powerful politician in the country.Your piecemeal efforts are
okay; but I am suggesting here, which I have been doing for the last 20
years, how to nip it in the bud.
The most important reason for politicians to indulge in corruption is that
so far hardly any one of them is given a ruthless deterrent punishment.
A few of my suggestions are as follows:
1) The CBI must investigate the property of all top bureaucrats, judges, and
ministers – past and present – and their close relatives as a routine.
2) All the assets, disproportionate to the known sources of income must be
considered as sufficient proof of corruption; the property must be
confiscated
and the relevant criminal must be given rigorous imprisonment for a minimum
period of imprisonment of ten years. The punishment must be proportionate to
the
level of authority and amount involved.
3) All the secret accounts in Swiss and other foreign bank must be frozen
and money confiscated by the Government.
4)The CBI ( Central Bureau of Investigation must be independent of the
government like the Election Commission.
K.G.Acharya
18-8-2
K.G.Acharya
21/33 Sagar Aptt.
Link Rd., Lokhandwala Cx.
Andheri – Mumbai 400 102
Sir,
With reference to the letter “Corrupt BJP” (Mid-Day, August 10, 2002) by
Rahul Gupta, I am to emphasize that all political parties in the country are
involved
in corruption.
If we are really interested in removing this greatest social evil in our
society, which is the root cause of all other evils, including communal
riots, we should
not take a partisan view. Partisan view is counter-productive. If we a talk
about the corruption of a Hindutva leader only, then all supporters of the
Hindutva are inclined to ignore his corrupt act. Similarly there is the case
of anti-Hindutva leader and his anti-Hindutva supporters.
It is for this reason that corrupt politicians divide the people on communal
lines. Taking this sorry fact into account, people must launch an agitation
to make non-partisan demands such as:
4) The Central Bureau of Investigation must be independent of the Government
like the Election Commission.
5) The CBI must investigate the property of all top bureaucrats, judges, and
ministers – past and present – and their close relatives as a routine.
6) All the wealth, disproportionate to the known sources of income must be
considered as sufficient proof of corruption; the property must be
confiscated
and the relevant criminal must be given rigorous imprisonment for a minimum
period of imprisonment of ten years.
7) Which is disproportionate his known sources of income must be
confiscated. All the secret accounts in Swiss and other foreign bank must be
frozen and money
confiscated by the Government.
Keshav Acharya
[ Aha, the “Ram Teri Ganga Maili” phenomenon!?
Pl explain the linkage between corruption and communal riots. Not so
obvious, to me at least. Or, as you have explained below, do you mean that
politicians trying to divide people among communal lines reflects the mind
of a corrupt politician (and not of those got divided).
1. Are you aware that all these people have to file their asset details
every 5 years or every year (depending on state, etc.) with the Government.
You and I would assume that the Govt. scans these for irregularities. But
what actually happens is that these are put in their sealed condition in a
sealed vault — to be opened only if there is an inquiry against that
person!! What a joke.
4. Isn’t the CBI independent? Vinay]