Agency on overdrive to prevent bribe-taking AP ACB colours corrupt babus
The AP Chief Minister's Office has directed the AntiCorruption Bureau to keep an eye out for corrupt government officials, especially in departments dealing with investments in the new capital.
Apart from the complaints received by ACB, intelligence teams will keep a vigil on officials in departments where there are more interactions with the public and investors.
The ACB's new strategy is to group government officers into red for most corrupt, yellow for corrupt and green for honest. There are definite orders that government officers indulging in corrupt practices must be brought to book along with their aides.
A study conducted by the Centre for Media Studies in 2017 revealed that AP was the second-most corrupt state among the 20 states surveyed. In AP, 38 per cent of people were of the view that corruption has increased and 58 per cent said it has remained the same.
As the new capital is being designed, it has attracted national and international investors. The government wants to attract good investors and doesn't want any charges of corruption to drive them away and tarnish the state's image.
The ACB is thus keeping tabs on top ranking officials who harass employees, demand bribes for project execution and stall promotions, and also amass ill-gotten wealth and property.
AP ACB chief R.P. Thakur said, "When complaints are received, we will scrutinise the reputation of the accused. Intelligence teams will check under which category the officer falls, red, green or yellow, and accordingly the case will be pursued. Targets have been set on officials with a tainted image.”
During 2017, the ACB laid traps and arrested officials accepting a total bribe amount of `57.77 lakh and registered 15 criminal misconduct cases.
The bureau has secured conviction in 64.61 per cent of disproportionate assets cases and 62.90 per cent of cases were officials were trapped accepting bribes, which is more than in 2016. Also, additional special ACB courts have been set up for speedy disposal of cases.
Former Congress MP V. Hanumantha Rao on Saturday asked Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao to organise pilgrimages for Hindus to Amarnath and Sikhs to the Golden Temple, with a subsidy like he promised Christians for a visit to Jerusalem.
Speaking to mediapersons here, Mr Hanumantha Rao said that hitherto the Chief Minister had only concentrated on holding meetings of various castes and announcing sops to trading-based communities.
On Friday, he held a dinner meeting for Christians ahead of Christmas where he promised them a Jerusalem yatra with subsidy from the government, Mr Hanumanha Rao said. He asked why the CM was discriminating between Christians and Hindus, and why the TRS government was not organising similar ‘subsidy yatras’ for Hindus who wish to visit Amarnath in Jammu Kashmir and Sikhs who want to visit Golden Temple in Punjab.
He asked the Chief Minister to acknowledge the lot of Munnuru Kapus, who constitute a majority among Backward Castes in the state, and provide a few acres to construct a Munnuru Kapu Bhavan for them.