VIJAYAWADA: In its fight against corruption in various government departments, the Andhra Pradesh government has roped in the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad(IIMA) to work with the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB).
IIM-A Professor Sundaravalli Narayanaswami and ACB chief Kumar Vishwajeet signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to work with coordination, in the presence of Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy at the latter’s camp office in Tadepalli on Thursday. Speaking on the occasion, Prof Sundaravalli said, "It is a great privilege for the IIM-A to work with the Andhra Pradesh government."
As part of the MoU, the IIM-A will suggest guidelines to curb corruption in all the government departments right from the village level. The IIM-A will study the functioning of sub-registrar offices, village and ward secretariats and all other government departments to identify corruption and suggest measures to eradicate it.
It will also look into the lacunae in the present governance and suggest corrective measures. A study will also be conducted for effective utilisation of the existing resources and improvement in the quality of governance.The IIMA will also give suggestions for the effective functioning of the village/ward volunteer and village/ward secretariat system. “After a detailed study, a report will be submitted to the State government by third week of February,’’ a release from the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) said.
Explaining the objective of setting up village and ward secretariats in the State, the Chief Minister said, “As part of decentralisation of governance, we have introduced the new system through which the people will get all the benefits extended by the government at their doorstep. The village and ward secretariats will start functioning in a full-fledged manner from January 1, 2020. Eradication of corruption in the government departments will bring about a drastic change in the lives of poor and middle class people. The initiative will help in effective implementation of welfare schemes and ensure that the benefits reach the genuine poor.”