Helpline hit in ACB standoff

In the past six months, the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) has answered over 1.5 lakh calls through its helpline 1031, but shockingly none of those complaints were converted into FIRs. Since June this year, ever since the anti-graft body got two chiefs – one appointed by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and another by Lieutenant-Governor Najeeb Jung -- only 10 cases have been registered by it and all of them had come directly to the department.

As per the data accessed through an RTI, a copy of which is with The Hindu , the ACB in all received 1.83 lakh calls between June 1 and December 9, of which 25,607 calls were found to be invalid. “But even of the 1.5 lakh calls, it’s surprising to know the ACB didn’t find even one complaint worth to be turned into a case. The helpline is a sham and public money was wasted in running this helpline,” said Ved Pal, the one who filed the RTI.

Mr. Kejriwal, after completing 50 days in power, re-launched the anti-corruption helpline in April. The service was meant for people to lodge complaints in case they were harassed for bribes by government officials.

The Delhi government appointed S.S. Yadav as the ACB chief. However, in June the Centre through the Lieutenant-Governor appointed another ACB chief, M.K .Meena. After a month in office, Mr Meena launched another anti-corruption helpline in July.

But Delhi government officials said that ever since the Centre ‘weakened’ the ACB, the purpose of setting up the anti-graft body has been defeated. “We have been saying it for long that Mr. Meena was appointed in ACB to make it defunct and to ensure that our war against corruption fails. Now, these figures prove it,” said Arunoday Prakash, media advisor to the Delhi government.

Calling it a Centre’s ploy to crush the AAP-government’s efforts to fight corruption, they are convinced that these figures testify their claims. “Not only cases are not registered through the helpline - 1031, but even the cases directly registered are mostly against government officials, who are working for the most honest government of the country.”