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`Transparency vital to curb corruption'

Our Bureau

KOLKATA, Nov. 3

A CLARITY in the role of Government servants at all levels is essential to establish accountability in the fight against corruption.

At the `Vigilance Awareness Week' programme at the office of the Accountant General (Audit)-I, West Bengal, Mr Shashi Prakash, Chief Vigilance Officer, Coal India Ltd, said CIL had already launched a departmental exercise to define each employee's role i n clear-cut terms for greater accountability in day-to-day functioning.Calling for sustainable action in the fight against corruption, he said, ``where audit ends, vigilance begins.''

The Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) has launched a new initiative in this war through better ``synergy between CAG and CVC.'' Such synergy would ensure that cases of corruption and issues with a vigilance angle were not overlooked, he added.

Emphasising that the fight against corruption has to begin with the individual, he said CVOs in all PSUs and other Central and State Government undertakings have been directed to scrutinise CAG audit reports for any cases of corruption. In suspect cases, the CVC has directed, through a circular, that immediate action must be initiated against the public servants concerned.

Citing the complex rules and procedures adopted in this country as a key reason for corruption, Mr Prakash said there was an urgent need for a timeframe within which proceedings are initiated against Government servants whose actions are suspect. He said lack of transparency in departments, when dealing with general information, was one of the major causes of corruption.