Chandigarh, June 21, 2013: The Punjab government today reiterated its instructions to all Chief Vigilance Officers of all the departments of the state to expedite their drive against corrupt and tainted officials in their respective departments and ensure prompt and effective action against such officials.
A spokesman of the Punjab Government today said that Vigilance department has issued instructions to all Chief Vigilance Officers posted in different departments to keep an eye on such elements and reduce their scope of corruption.
They have been told to corrupt officers in their respective departments, also ensuring effective supervision on them and to so regulate their posting that they do not have scope to indulge in corruption. He said that the main aim behind the designation of CVOs. CVOs who have also been authorized to pass on the information to the secretary Vigilance regarding the corrupt officials, was to keep an eye over them, besides ensuring prompt and effective departmental action/prosecution in court of corrupt officers when evidence were available, he added.
The spokesman said that to remove the corrupt officers from services, Punjab Government has also made arrangements in law for the compulsory retirement of them and to implement this law all CVOs has been asked to scrutinise the cases in this regard. He said that it was the duty of CVO to scrutinise such cases and compulsory retire corrupt officers at the age of 55 years.
The CVOs have been told to scrutinise the property returns of government servants in their departments to detect corruption or unreasonable accumulation of property by any employee. They have been also told to scrutinise the repots which appear to involve element of corruption.
Expressing concern over slow progress of action in corruption cases, they have been told to monitor progress with regard to grant of prosecution sanction in the cases referred to the department under advise to Secretary Vigilance. The CVOs have also been told to assist Vigilance department in complicated cases or regarding departmental rules and procedures.
They have been told to check and review procedures adopted in the department, if necessary with the assistance of Vigilance department to plug loop holes wherever existing, which facilitate corruption.
He added that to speed up the investigation in corruption cases, CVOs were to act as a liaison officer between their own department and Vigilance Department including Vigilance Bureau besides ensuring that any information, date, advice record asked by Vigilance should be made available without any lose of time.
The Spokesman also said that Punjab Government has asked the all CVOs to perform their duties with utmost sincerity, otherwise they would invite strict action.