BHUBANESWAR: Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Monday said that all the departments must ensure that government officials involved in corruption should have sleepless nights due to the apprehension of getting caught at any movement and warned that dishonest practices will not be tolerated.
Speaking on the occasion of Vigilance Awareness Week, Majhi said in many instances corrupt officials manage to keep themselves away from the anti-corruption agency's net.
"We must ensure that corrupt officials should live in a state of fear and realise that the government will not spare them. It must be ensured that such officials have a sense of nervousness that their act of corruption may surface at any moment and they could get arrested by Vigilance or any other agency," said Majhi.
The chief minister said such a predicament will act as a deterrent against corruption.
"The roots of corruption can not be pulled out in a span of a few months or a year and a sustained campaign must be carried out to combat the menace," he added.
Citing a reference to several departments and agencies coming together recently to carry out rescue and relief operations during severe cyclone Dana, Majhi emphasised that teamwork is the need of the hour to tackle corruption in the state.
"It is not just the responsibility of the Vigilance to check corruption, collectors, SPs and senior officials of the government must initiate steps to put an end to the unethical activities," he said.
This year, the Vigilance Awareness Week is being observed from October 28 to November 3. The campaign's theme is 'Culture of Integrity for Nation's Prosperity. Majhi attended the state level function organised by Odisha Vigilance at Lok Seva Bhavan here on the day.
During the event, he administered the integrity pledge, circulated by the Central Vigilance Commission, to the public servants working in government offices/public sector undertakings and to the people of the state. The IT department connected all the collector and block offices via video conferencing and the officials there took the integrity pledge.