KOCHI: The Local Self-Government Department (LSGD) seems to be the most corrupt among the state departments as the most vigilance cases in the past six years have been lodged against its officials.
As many as 1,061 state government officials have been booked in corruption cases in the state since 2017.
Apart from these cases, vigilance inquiries were conducted against 129 officials and preliminary inquiries against 423. As many as 82 officials are under suspension after being arrested or made accused in corruption cases.
This data was disclosed in the Kerala Assembly by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan while replying to a question by legislator Sunny Joseph. Of these officials, 154 are from LSGD, 97 from Revenue, 61 from the co-operative department, 37 from the civil supplies and consumer affairs department, 31 from the police, 29 from the public works department, 25 from the education department, and 23 from the health department.
According to Girish Babu, an anti-corruption activist whose complaints led to cases registered against actor Jayasurya for land encroachment and corruption in the Palarivattom flyover, the most corruption incidents in LSGD take place in connection with the issuance of building permits.
“There are strict rules and guidelines related to giving permits for the construction of buildings both in the panchayat and municipal areas. We lodged several complaints over the violation of building construction rules. Currently, Kerala has only one LSGD tribunal where cases have been pending for 8-10 years. There should be a tribunal in Kochi and Kozhikode,” Girish said.
“The number of cases against LSGD officials is high as they are the window for the public for various requirements. Same is the case for revenue department as well. Public servants are caught following tip-offs from the public,” a vigilance officer said.
The highest number of officials currently suspended in corruption cases are from the revenue department 22 officials. This is followed by 19 from LSGD, eight from health, six from registration, five from the motor vehicles department, and four from police.
Pending cases
Besides having only six vigilance courts in Kochi, the delay in the appointment of Additional Legal Advisors representing the state contribute to rising pending cases in the state. It takes at least six to seven years to see a vigilance case conclude after FIR registration, says anti-corruption activist Girish
