The revision of the Vigilance Manual, an exercise that has been happening for 12 years now, is complete. “It is now under printing and in a month’s time, we hope to get it released by the Prime Minister or the Union Minister for Personnel,” said Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC), K.V. Chowdary.
The revised manual had already been circulated to Chief Vigilance Officers (CVO) of various organisation, he said, adding that the major upgrade covered almost all conceivable situations that a CVO could encounter while discharging their duties.
Mr. Chowdary addressed a gathering of CVOs from public sector undertakings, banks and other organisations at the XIV anniversary celebrations of the Vigilance Study Circle here on Friday, after giving away awards for excellence. He said the deliberations largely included experiences and situations faced by CVOs and how inappropriate practices were taking place.
An important point made in the revised manual was that ‘quid pro quo’ that did not necessarily involve transfer of money for official favours, need not be taken under section 13 (1) D of the Prevention of Corruption act, that defines a criminal misconduct by a public servant.
“There is an urgent need to include the next level of officers in vigilance duties and have training programmes,” he stated. A whopping 16 lakh people including school children and people of all age groups across different sections of society had signed up online and taken the integrity pledge to be vigilant.
