THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Concerned over the presence of corrupt and inefficient officers among its ranks, the vigilance department in the state has decided to launch a year-long programme to weed out such elements.
The decision was taken based on an assessment that some of the officers attached to the department were involved in corruption, while several others were seen slack in carrying out their responsibilities. The vigilance department has the mandate to eliminate corrupt and unethical practices in public administration. Though the extent of rot in the department is limited, the activities of some officials had caught the attention of the top officers following which they decided to run a prolonged clean-up operation.
A source in the vigilance said the working of the department needs to be audited as they are the prime agency dealing with anti-graft activities. “Within the department, we need to maintain a strong vigil against all undesirable activities,” said the source.
Apart from dealing with nefarious elements within the department, there are also plans to streamline its functioning. The year-long programme will focus on imparting capacity-building exercises to the staff and identify those who have been slack about doing their work. Another plan is to repatriate the lethargic officials, who are on deputation, back to their parent units. The frequent shifting of officers from vigilance was affecting its performance, it was found.
In the last one year, the department has delivered good results in its fight against graft as it trapped as many as 42 government servants while receiving bribes. The fight against graft also received a boost as the public provided about 13000 inputs on corruption involving government officials and public servants.
A senior official told TNIE that another major plan for 2023 is to enhance the efficiency of the department. “More people are now turning to us to combat graft. They give tipoffs and want us to act fast. So our response has to be equally fast so that we can trap the culprits, who have been named by them, at the earliest. The department has to be readied up to handle the large volume of complaints and inputs and that’s one of our main priorities for the year,” the official said.