Reacting to a recent survey on the existence of corrupt practices still prevalent at several departments under his nose, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, on Wednesday, wrote to ministers on his Cabinet asking them to set their respective houses in order.
Pinpointing areas of corruption in their ministries and the departments which they are responsible for raised by the CMS survey – which, for instance, had pointed out corruption prevailing in getting driving licenses and getting beds in hospitals among other government services, the Chief Minister asked all ministers to reply on how they intended to uproot it.
“All the ministers, including his Deputy Manish Sisodia, were directed in no unclear terms that the government, which came to power on the anti-corruption plank, practised a zero-tolerance policy when confronted with procedural irregularities stemming from it and that steps had to be taken to curb it,” said a senior government official.
“There is no deadline that has been set for the receipt of their replies by the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO), but the Cabinet has been told to start work on instituting steps to tackle corruption at the earliest,” the official added.
Reacting to the study, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had claimed that it was because of its “zero-tolerance to corruption” that the problem has begun to show a downward trend. At the same time, the Bharatiya Janata Party, too, was quick to credit Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the findings.
According to senior AAP leader Sanjay Singh, experiences of corruption had begun to decrease in the Capital since the party’s first stint in the Delhi government. “Officials across departments began fearing of severe consequences right from Arvind Kejriwal’s first time as Chief Minister of the Capital. Street vendors are the happiest as they do not have to give bribe to officials. Besides, the 35 suspensions the CM has done among other measures have helped building deterrence,” he said.
However, it maintained that the cases of corruption would have been lesser if the Anti-Corruption Branch was not made “toothless” by the appointment of Mukesh Kumar Meena.
The BJP, on the other hand, attributed the decrease in the experience of corruption by Delhiites to the multiple “anti-corruption” drives carried out by the municipal corporations. It also credited Mr. Modi for his emphasis on “transparency” in his radio talks, ‘Mann Ki Baat.’
