BHUBANESWAR: Chief Secretary Suresh Chandra Mahapatra on Monday directed the chief vigilance officers (CVOs) of all departments and public sector undertakings (PSUs) to prioritise preventive vigilance to root out corruption from public offices. Inaugurating the annual CVO conference at the State Vigilance Academy in the city, the Chief Secretary said that the CVOs are the eyes and ears of the Vigilance Directorate and asked the officers to work in close coordination with the agency.
The CVOs were directed to scrutinise the property returns of the officers in their respective departments, identify sensitive posts, corruption-prone offices and keep a vigil on the officers posted in them. “The State government has been laying emphasis on transparent and time-bound execution of the development projects and delivery of the services. The Mo Sarkar approach of the government rolled out under the leadership of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is an effective step towards the prevention of corruption. Under this, people’s feedback is being regularly collected by senior officers and ministers”, he said.
Nalco’s chief vigilance officer Somanath Hansdah gave a presentation on the role of CVOs in promoting whistle-blowing culture, and IIT Bhubaneswar’s Dean (academic affairs) and CVO Dr. Pravas Ranjan Sahu spoke about the use of technology to combat corruption. Intelligence sharing on employees of doubtful integrity and enhancing the synergy between the anti-corruption agency and all other government departments were also discussed.
Around 80 CVOs of different government departments and PSUs attended the conference both physically and virtually. On the occasion, the auditorium of State Vigilance Academy was dedicated in the name of the agency’s former Director Dr. Debasis Panigrahi who passed away last year while undergoing treatment for Covid-19. Among others, DGP Abhay, and Vigilance Director YK Jethwa were present.