ACB to make top officers responsible if staff are trapped

Public asked to come forward with more information on corrupt employees so that the ACB can book them with appropriate evidence.

The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has cautioned the heads of the departments or the office in-charges about their responsibility in the corruption among their subordinates. The ACB has decided to involve the head of the office concerned, if the staff in their office were trapped.

“If a Class-IV employee, clerical staff, personal assistant to the officer or head of a department is trapped while taking bribe, the officer or in-charge of the office would be booked for their negligence in maintaining vigil on their staff,” said ACB Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) V. Gopala Krishna.

In many cases, the employees were trapped while accepting the bribe amount in their seats or at some point. But, the heads of the department feigned ignorance on the corrupt activities in his/her section in the office, which was not believable.

“It is the duty of the officer to keep a tab on the staff and extend quality service to the public. We will book the officer or head of the department in ‘trap’ or ‘disproportionate assets’ cases along with the accused officer in the coming days,” Mr. Gopala Krishna warned.

With regard to surprise raids on Government General Hospital (GGH) a few months ago, the ACB noticed several discrepancies during verification of records and action has been recommended against the erring staff.

“The ACB noticed several discrepancies including, lack of supervision, inadequate drug stocks, poor sanitation, misuse of funds and other irregularities in the GGH. We appealed to the Government to take action on erring staff. Responding to our report, Government issued orders to Medical and Health Department to take action against eight employees ranging from Superintendent to clerical cadre staff in different sections. Remaining cases on surprise checks on hostels and other departments are under investigation,” the DSP said.

If the public comes out with more authentic information on corrupt employees, the ACB can book them with appropriate evidence and see that the accused are punished severely. We request the public to cooperate with the ACB officials to prevent corruption.

Following complaints, the ACB sleuths raided Vijayawada Urban Tehsildar’s Office recently and a report has been sent to the Government, the officer added.