Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, Nov 3: The conviction rate in vigilance cases this year has remained 48 per cent, said Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Tuesday.
“Our continued emphasis on prosecution in courts has started yielding results, and I am happy to learn that conviction percentage in vigilance cases has reached a record 48 per cent this year,” Patnaik said during the observance of Vigilance Awareness Week at Rabinda Mandap here.
‘‘The investigators and prosecutors of the department deserve appreciation for their good work,” he said.
Stating that his government’s efforts in bringing in legislation and their implementation have received nation-wide recognition, Patnaik said, adding governments of Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Rajastan have enacted similar legislations on the lines of the Orissa Special Courts Act.
The Chief Minister said, “It has been the endeavour of my government to provide efficient and corruption-free administration to the people of Orissa. My government, over the years, has created and strengthened several institutional mechanism to transform people’s complaints into concrete actions to combat and eradicate corruption from public life.”
Citing the role of responsive and vigilant citizens in fighting corruption as paramount, he said, “The observance of Vigilance Awareness Week is an apt occasion to carry out a thorough introspection of ourselves, to reaffirm our commitment to provide efficient, clean and transparent governance.”
Moreover, the Central Vigilance Commission has chosen the theme “Preventive vigilance as a tool of good governance”, he said and added that the surprise checks by state vigilance should continue more vigorously to detect and prevent corruption.
Patnaik released a special postal cover and released a short film on Vigilance Helpline-1064 and administered a pledge on transparency to the officers.
State vigilance director Kunwar Brajesh Singh, special vigilance director YB Khurania, Chief Secretary GC Pati and Bhubaneswar MP Prasanna Kumar Patasani attended the closing ceremony of Vigilance Awareness Week.
Speaking on the occasion, Singh pointed out that Santhanam Committee had stressed that corruption cannot be reduced if preventive vigilance is not implemented.
“In the last five years and up to September 30, 2015, vigilance has registered 2335 cases including 431 disproportionate assets cases, 924 trap cases, 942 corruption cases, 38 Essential Commodities Act cases against 432 class I, 409 class II, 2060 class III and 64 class IV employees along with 320 other public servants and 1017 private persons,” GC Pati said.
The concluding ceremony witnessed some hilarity when MP Prasanna Patsani said gone are those days when people used to think ‘‘chakiri kariba police, macha khaiba Ilish’’.
“The police are leaving no stone unturned to check graft. The vigilance officials are doing their bid to control it. However, the media is fabricating news and is showing cops in poor light,” he added.
