Andhra to bring legislation for time-bound trial of corruption cases
Amaravati, Aug 24 (IANS) The government of Andhra Pradesh will soon make a legislation for time-bound trials in cases of corruption. This was announced by Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy on Monday.
At a review meeting with the officials, he said that strict laws should be brought in to eradicate corruption and legislation on the lines of Disha Act would be brought soon to fix a timeline for completing the trial in corruption cases.
At the review meeting, the representatives of the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad presented a report on good governance along with the cabinet sub-committee report. It reviewed the functioning of Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) call centre number 14440, judicial preview, reverse tendering and other issues on eradicating corruption.
During the meeting the delay in the trial of corruption cases was discussed and the chief minister said that legislation should be brought in to fix a timeline for the trial of those involved in corruption.
Even if an employee is caught red handed taking bribes, the cases get dragged for a long period and in some cases even for over 25 years. “To stop this we have to bring in legislation on the lines of Disha Bill fixing the timeline for trial,” he said.
Jagan said his government would eradicate corruption at the top level and the message should percolate down the line.
He directed that all complaints on corruption directed to helpline no. 1092 should be diverted to ACB toll free number 14440. The ACB call centre was started a year back and till now 44,999 calls were received. Of these 1,747 calls pertain to corruption and all the cases were addressed.
The officials told the chief minister that for the year ending August 2020; so far 45 projects worth Rs 14,285 crore were sent for judicial preview.
The chief minister was briefed that the introduction of reverse tendering has resulted in the state exchequer saving a mammoth Rs 2,252.86 crore spanning over 788 contracts. Steps to widen the ambit of reverse tendering are being formulated, in order to increase it even further.
The cabinet sub-committee which was setup to probe various dubious deals struck by the previous government has met 6 times until now, yielding two reports after extensive discussions.
The chief minister said that complaints from village secretariat upwards should be received by ACB which should be linked to the Collector office. Town Planning, Sub Registrar, MRO, MDO and other such offices should be free of corruption, he said
Professor Sundaravalli Narayana Swamy of IIM Ahmedabad submitted to the chief minister, the report on good governance, which identifies the grey areas of corruption in government departments and the means by which it can be eradicated.
Chief Secretary Nilam Sawhney, DGP Goutham Sawang, ACB DIG PSR Anjaneyulu, IIM representatives and other officials participated in the review meeting.
–IANS
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