BHUBANESWAR : Asserting his government’s commitment to a zero-tolerance policy to corruption, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Tuesday expressed deep anguish over involvement of young officials in corruption.
Speaking at the state-level Vigilance Awareness Week programme at Lok Seva Bhawan here, the chief minister said it is a matter of great concern that young civil servants, who had proclaimed that it was their dream to serve the people by joining government services, are going to jail early in their career on charges of corruption. “They are selling their ideals for small monetary benefit,” he lamented.
The CM’s remark came in the backdrop of arrest of 2021-batch IAS officer Dhiman Chakma while accepting a bribe of Rs 10 lakh from a businessman at Dharmagarh in Kalahandi district, and 2019-batch OAS topper Aswini Kumar Panda for taking a bribe of Rs 15,000 through his office driver for converting agricultural land to homestead land in a mutation case.
Cautioning that none of the corrupt officials will be spared, Majhi said, “As part of the zero-tolerance policy of the government, 30 government employees have been dismissed and pension of 68 retired employees has been stopped after being convicted in corruption cases. Our goal and objective is to achieve a clean and corruption-free administration.”
The chief minister said prevention of corruption is a collective responsibility and emphasised the need to strengthen preventive vigilance measures in various departments to identify corruption-prone areas and individuals. This will help make the governance system more transparent and accountable.
Vig has free hand to act against graft, says Majhi
Majhi said, “Observing Vigilance Awareness Week is not just a symbolic event but a stern message from the government to officials and systems that corruption will not be tolerated.” He said corruption hinders the progress and development of society. A transparent, accountable, dynamic and honest system is essential to curb corruption.
Accusing the previous government of letting big corruption cases to go scot free, the chief minister said the state Vigilance has now been given a free hand to act without fetters against all corrupt officials, big or small. As a result, it has earned a reputation as one of the leading anti-corruption agencies in the country.
On the occasion, the chief minister felicitated the Cuttack division as the best Vigilance division, Sonepur as the best unit, Manoranjan Paikaray as the best investigating officer, Pranita Ray as the best woman investigating officer and Surendra Panda from Berhampur as the best public prosecutor.
