Southern States - Kerala   

`Political links corrupting Govt. employees'

By Our Staff Reporter

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM Dec. 30. The root cause of corruption in Government service can be traced to the political affiliation of service organisations, the former Additional Chief Secretary, T.N. Jayachandran, said here today. He was inaugurating a seminar on `Corruption as a human rights violation' organised by the Vigil India Movement.

Mr. Jayachandran said leaders and members of service organisations could bring down corruption by half if they put their mind to the effort. He said service organisations were finding it difficult to take a firm stand on rooting out corruption because of their political affiliations. He pointed out that a recent Vigilance raid in the Transport Department had unearthed coupons to collect funds for the Minister's party.

Leaders of various service organisations who participated in the seminar pledged their support to the campaign against corruption. They said simplification of laws would go a long way in clamping down on corruption. The leaders expressed distrust at the will of the political leadership to curb corruption.

The NGO union general secretary, K. Varadarajan, said political affiliation of service organisations contributed to their social accountability.

Mr. Varadarajan highlighted the need for public action to identify and isolate corrupt officials.

The Head of the Kerala University Department of Politics, M. Bhaskaran Nair, said a study conducted by the department in Thiruvananthapuram had revealed that two-thirds of the people visiting Government offices were dissatisfied with the service.

He said most people were forced to put up with red tapism despite making repeat visits to the offices.

The NGO Association leaders, Kambara Narayanan and Mangad Rajendran ,and the chairman of the Joint Council of Service Organisations, M.N.V.G. Adiyodi, participated in the meeting.

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