BHUBANESWAR: Chief secretary Manoj Ahuja on Thursday asked all departments to institutionalise a culture of zero-tolerance towards corruption and exclude officials of doubtful integrity from sensitive roles.
In a letter to all additional chief secretaries, principal secretaries, secretaries, RDCs and collectors, besides the DG of Vigilance, he emphasised the need for strengthening vigilance administration with focus on adoption of preventive measures.
The chief secretary directed to enforce transparent human resources practices, including staff rotation, fair and transparent online transfers and exclusion of officials of doubtful integrity. “Recent cases of corruption detected by the Vigilance department highlight the urgent need for a proactive and sustained focus on preventive vigilance. As mere punitive action is not sufficient, root causes of corruption must be systematically eliminated through administrative, legal, social, economic and educational measures,” he stressed.
As emphasised by the Santhanam Committee, Ahuja observed that departments must take the lead in identifying vulnerable areas and addressing risks. Factors like discretionary powers and monopolies in service delivery, weak grievance redressal, poor detection systems and low public awareness must be looked into, he said.
The chief secretary has suggested departments to constitute an internal vigilance committee to identify sensitive areas and prepare short and long-term action plans, apart from adopting and scaling up technology-driven reforms such as EoDB, WAMIS, e-tendering, e-procurement, work passbook, DBT for funds transfer and online HR management systems.
“The implementation of online transfer policies and the rotation of staff in sensitive posts would discourage rent-seeking behaviour and promote transparency in human resource management. Some departments have already introduced fair and transparent online transfer systems that can be replicated,” he said.
Officials have also been asked to empower citizens about different government schemes and services by displaying delivery timelines under ORTPS Act in offices, monitoring compliance through dashboards and actively using feedback systems.