Karnataka - Mysore   

Vigilance Awareness Week launched

THE HINDU— PHOTO: M.A. SRIRAM

For a change: Senior Deputy General Manager of SWR Anurag (centre) at a function to inaugurate Vigilance Awareness Week in Mysore on Tuesday. — PHOTO: M.A. SRIRAM

MYSORE: The Mysore Division of South Western Railway (SWR) launched the Vigilance Awareness Week on Tuesday with a call for introspection among employees in order to weed out corruption.

Senior Deputy General Manager of South Western Railway Anurag, in his address said that the thrust of the vigilance week was on creating awareness on spending of funds as the Railways was going in for infrastructure development and providing public amenities in a big way. The second point of focus was the need to popularise the mechanism available to citizens to air their grievances and get them redressed, he said.

It was pointed out that the vigilance helpline launched by the Railways had resulted in good response from the public and such online helplines had also provided examples of online action initiated by the authorities. Quoting various surveys and studies on corruption, Mr. Anurag said India was ranked 72 out of 91 nations in the corruption index. “The earlier perception was that a citizen had to pay bribe to get an illegal benefit, but today we have reached a stage where a bribe is expected even to provide routine and legally valid services,” said Mr. Anurag, who quoted surveys to point out that poor Indians had to fork out a total bribe of Rs. 883 crore in a year for receiving legal services from the Government.

Though the prevalence of corruption was relatively low in the Railways, it was a cause for concern, said Mr. Anurag. “Even among Railway employees there is discrepancy in the value of properties disclosed by individuals,” he said.

The officials pointed out that the Railways had taken steps to harness technology to reduce corruption in places of mass contact such as calling for tenders, or reservations. The concept of e-ticketing and e-tendering had significantly reduced the scope for corruption, they said.

The Indian Railways does not figure among the top 12 departments that are perceived to be highly corrupt by the public, and the authorities are keen to maintain this image while making attempts to weed out corruption.

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