Date:24/05/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/05/24/stories/2007052416600400.htm

Karnataka - Bangalore

Data on assets and liabilities on Internet

Staff Reporter

BANGALORE: Many of the bureaucrats agreed to make their statements of assets and liabilities public, including posting them online. The Department of Public Administration and Reforms, before whom the details are given, has been asked upload the details on its website.

This came about during the one-and-half hour meeting of the IAS officers with Lokayukta N. Santosh Hegde on Wednesday.

The meeting was organised by the IAS Officers Association to clarify the association's stand on the issue of giving suo motu powers to the Lokayukta.

Nearly 80 IAS officers attended the meeting.

The officers told the Lokayukta that they were regularly submitting the declarations before the Chief Secretary as prescribed under the All India Service Rules.

To this, Mr. Hegde clarified that he had never asked any of the officials to submit their declaration before the Lokayukta. Mr. Hegde said he had only asked the officials to make their declarations public by putting it on the Internet. The officers said the declarations given by them were available with the Department of Public Administration and Reforms. The department could take steps to put the same on the website. They were awaiting the decision of the Karnataka Information Commission on providing copies of the declaration to people.

The IAS officers' association clarified that none of its members opposed sou motu powers to the Lokayukta.

The association was reacting to the statement of Lokayukta that a group of officials was against the Government giving him the powers. According to Mr. Hegde, the officials said they had not influenced the Government to decide against granting of power.