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| Non-performance as unpardonable as corruption: Azad | | Says honest officials need not feel scared | | Srinagar, July 7
Describing non-performance as big a crime as corruption, Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad today ruled out any witch hunting in his drive against the menace even as he warned chronically corrupt and non-performing officials of severe consequences.
Addressing the inaugural session of a day-long conference of departmental vigilance officers here, the Chief Minister said State Vigilance Organisation (SVO) was not there to put everybody in jail adding, the deterrence of the Organisation should not discourage or dishearten officers from doing their rightful job or execute development projects. He asked the SVO to show no mercy to those who were corrupt by conviction and had refused to change over the years. He said punitive action should be taken against such persons.
The CM said officials who did not perform or spend the money put at their disposal for infrastructure development were equally criminal. Their lapse, he said, was a graver crime as it deprives common people from the fruits of development and keeps basic amenities far from their reach. He said these officials should remember that the money was meant for public welfare and by not utilizing it they were doing the greatest disservice to their own people and the State.
Azad said crores of rupees had been provided by the central government for infrastructure development like schools, hospitals, roads and other amenities that could change the entire development profile of the State. He said if this money was not spent it would put general public to great inconvenience and disadvantage. The onus of this would entirely be on non-performing officials who were answerable to the society. He said honest government officials as compared to those who were corrupt from within and outside need not feel threatened by his war against corruption. The Chief Minister asked the Vigilance Organisation to focus more on preventive rather than punitive measures. “Our aim is that nobody should do any wrong or loot the State exchequer”, he said. If this objective is achieved by prevention it is better than using punitive measures, he added. He said unintentional mistakes or errors of judgment could be overlooked if the intent of the official was right. Officials who have unintentionally erred and were ready to reform themselves should be given a chance, he added.
The Chief Minister stressed on the need to choose right people as departmental vigilance officers saying they had the onerous responsibility of prevention of corruption by keeping a constant vigil on government spending and construction projects. He said DVOs should be provided incentives directly linked to their performance. He said while selecting departmental vigilance officers their capacities, capabilities, aptitude and performance should be kept in view, adding that they had to be role model for others.
Azad said his government had instituted the mechanism of awarding honest, upright and outstanding officials. For the first time last year, he said, five outstanding officers of the state were awarded Chief Minister’s Gold Medal, rupees one lakh in cash and a certificate each. He said that this year on Independence Day, 15 medals would be awarded along with cash awards and certificates for excellent performance in infrastructure related departments. He said that a similar scheme of awarding the best performing departmental vigilance officers would be put in place. He recalled his detailed interactions with district, tehsil and block level officers in all the 22 districts of the state recently and said he had issued instructions to them for meeting public daily for two hours in the morning and address the people’s problems. He said he had also asked them to display in their respective offices the status of development works taken up by their department for public view. This, he said, would keep the people aware of what was happening in their area. He asked media to highlight the works completed in different areas of the State and also bring to the notice of the public the lapses that they noticed in the implementation of development projects. He said public awareness about these works would also decrease corruption.
Azad said that holding of DVOs’ conference provides an opportunity for stock taking and further fine tuning the strategies against corruption. He stressed the need for optimum use of new techniques and technology to fight the menace in a more effective manner. He released a compilation on anti-corruption laws in J&K brought out by the SVO and also awarded five outstanding DVOs.
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