Transparency in transactions stressed

Absence of standard operating procedures and responsibility for the file and the accompanying note file were the major loopholes enabling officials to take decisions that favour a few, City Police Commissioner Amit Garg has said.

Further, there is no particular individual who is designated as ‘custodian’ of the file allowing files to conveniently go missing, he said speaking from his experience in the Central Bureau of Investigation. He was speaking at the valedictory of the Vigilance Awareness Week at the Visakhapatnam Port Trust here on Friday.

He wanted every head of department to spend time to draw up an exhaustive manual on the procedures and processes in the department and make it public. This would bring down discretionary actions by officials, he said.

The Visakhapatnam Port Trust has initiated moves like e-tendering and e-procurement to increase transparency and accountability in all transactions of the port, VPT Chairman M.T. Krishna Babu said. The aim was to minimise the interaction between officials and customers at all levels to bring down corruption, he added. He decried the attitude of employees to work in silos and not allow interaction between departments. Interoperability between departments would help improve the quality of service provided to the customer, he noted.

Asking the employees to shun the notion of holding ‘power’ over the files that are awaiting disposal, he said as a first it would be good if fellow employees are not harassed to get their entitlements.

The VPT conducted a series of programmes as part of the Vigilance Awareness week and winners of some of the competitions were given away prizes on the occasion. VPT Chief Vigilance Officer Mujib Pasha Shaik was present.