Revenue dept tops in corruption………Soumittra S Bose
NAGPUR: The State Anti-Corruption Bureau, Nagpur unit’s scroll of dishonour this year has most persons from revenue department caught accepting bribe. It is followed by policemen and staff of various panchayat samitis. This year also witnessed maximum public servants from Chandrapur district coming under the ACB scanner for various reasons.
The year 2010 saw a major spurt in action by the state ACB. Apart from increase in trap cases by 13 till December 23, ACB also instituted 86 discreet enquiries against officials allegedly involved in malpractices. Last year, there were only 44 discreet enquiries. It has also started investigation against five personnel and started 18 open enquiries.
ACB officials have come down heavily on the government machinery in Chandrapur district. Besides 12 traps, including a senior clerk from Regional Transport Office ( RTO) trapped on Thursday, the ACB has also started investigation in one case while 14 discreet enquiries have been initiated against personnel in the district. One open enquiry has been commenced here.
In Nagpur district too, ACB trapped 12 personnel for accepting bribe this year. There are 37 discreet enquiries started by the ACB sleuths for gathering evidence of corruption in Nagpur district. Nine open enquiries have been also started in 2010 so far.
ACB sleuths have been active in Bhandara district too. In fact, this year maximum cases of traps (14) were registered by the ACB in Bhandara. Last year, there were only four cases in this district. Three discreet enquiries have been started here.
Sandeep Dewan, superintendent of police, ACB, Nagpur unit, said that intense awareness campaigns and other measures were undertaken in different towns to encourage victims to come forward. Dewan’s jurisdiction has Nagpur, Wardha, Bhandara, Chandrapur, Gondia and Gadchiroli districts.
“We had felicitated around 25 complainants who had approached ACB. They shared their experiences with us. We were able to instill faith about our department in them. Their interest and identities were protected. In fact, we had organized workshops for our own personnel about the ACB work culture to maintain the confidentiality of our action,” said Dewan. He even made appearance in person on FM radio channels to appeal to the citizens.
“On bazaar days, we went to the district places and carried out our campaigns among the public inviting them to our offices with complaints,” said Dewan who distributed pamphlets too. He has now prepared display boards with contact details of the ACB office for putting up at police stations and other government offices. Dewan had also conducted awareness campaigns in city cinemas for movie goers.
If state ACB has come down heavily on the state government machinery, Central Bureau of Investigation’s ACB unit too was effective with the personnel from central government offices and public sector undertakings. CBI registered around 20 cases. Apart from 12 cases of traps, CBI registered another 10 cases related to criminal misconduct and frauds. Among other departments, CBI had continued its action on the corrupt officials of the Western Coalfields Limited, railways and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd.