After the ouster of Asim Khan as Delhi’s Food and Civil Supplies Minister on charges of corruption, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal met all the heads of departments in the government. The message sent out was clear — no corruption will be tolerated.
Earlier on Monday, the Chief Minister had tweeted: “Will meet n tell all HODs today-HODs hv to ensure zero corruption in their depts. Corrupt won’t be spared, howsoever high he may be. [sic].”
The Delhi government now plans to set up a department, parallel to the Vigilance Department, to look into corruption-related complaints against errant officials as the ‘Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) has become redundant’. “The ACB these days is just doing one work, it is not working against corruption,” Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia told the media.
Already facing criticism for indulging in ‘spying’ and encouraging it by spending funds on spy devices, the AAP government has said that it will keep an eye on officials. “From junior engineers to senior officials, no one will be spared for indulging in any kind of corruption,” said Mr. Sisodia.
In fact, all heads of departments have been directed to personally monitor the grievance resolution process to ensure timely and effective resolution. According to sources in the Delhi government, even volunteers have been asked to keep a check on MLAs after the Asim Khan episode.
Officials, who attended the meeting, said that it was a meeting where a warning was issued. “He said that when their (AAP) Minister isn’t let off, officials can expect harsh punishment,” said an official.
The AAP-led government, meanwhile, has handed over the Asim Khan case to the CBI as “we don’t trust the ACB anymore,” Mr. Kejriwal had earlier said.
Soon after the meeting, the CM’s Public Grievance Monitoring System instructed all departments to look into grievances of citizens. The Labour Department will soon organise grievance resolution camps in six districts of Delhi over the weekend. Those who are not satisfied with the government have been called for a session with officials and area MLAs at the camp.
The Delhi government plans
to set up a department to look into corruption-related complaints
