Deptts asked to submit panel of officers to GAD for approval
Step aimed at strengthening internal vigilance mechanism
Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, Aug 9: Finally, the Government of Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir has set into motion exercise for appointment of Chief Vigilance Officers (CVOs) and Departmental Vigilance Officers (DVOs) in the departments and organizations strictly in accordance with the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) guidelines in order to strengthen internal vigilance mechanism and to maintain hawk’s eye on the corrupt practices.
EXCELSIOR in its edition dated January 25, 2021 had exclusively reported that Government of Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir has yet not started acting on the explicit guidelines/rules of the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) regarding strengthening of internal vigilance in the departments and corporations.
Thereafter, EXCELSIOR on July 2, 2021 had revealed that several Chief Vigilance Officers and Departmental Vigilance Officers were themselves facing Anti-Corruption Bureau cases mainly because of non-serious approach towards the guidelines of CVC, which clearly state that CVOs and DVOs should be of a proven integrity and the officer to be given additional charge of the post of DVO/CVO should not be one whose normal duties involve dealing with matters sensitive from vigilance point of view.
“This is not a healthy practice”, the Anti-Corruption Bureau had mentioned in a communication addressed to the General Administration Department. Moreover, it was conveyed that institution of DVOs/CVOs, which has been given the mandate of dealing with vigilance matters in the respective departments in a fair and transparent manner, should be fair enough and the officers so appointed should not be involved in any ACB case.
“Such a practice would have a negative impact on the functioning of the institutions and also impede the trust on these institutions and as such the CVOs and DVOs need to be clear from vigilance angle”, the Anti-Corruption Bureau had further conveyed to the GAD.
Today, the Government of Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir set into motion exercise for appointment of Chief Vigilance Officers and Departmental Vigilance Officers strictly in accordance with the guidelines of the Central Vigilance Commission. Now, such officers will be formally appointed by the General Administration Department only after receiving clearance from Jammu and Kashmir Anti-Corruption Bureau.
The CVOs and DVOs will assist the authorities heading the Government departments, statutory bodies, other corporations, Public Sector Undertakings and societies etc in discharge of duties relating to vigilance administration. Moreover, they will help in strengthening the internal vigilance mechanism.
It has been ordered that all the Administrative Departments will designate an officer as Chief Vigilance Officer not below the rank of Additional Secretary at the Civil Secretariat level, who shall be responsible for vigilance administration.
At Directorate/Head of the Department level, Departmental Vigilance Officer, not below the rank of Deputy Secretary, will be designated by the concerned Administrative Department and shall function directly under the supervision of concerned Chief Vigilance Officer. The Additional Deputy Commissioners will be ex-officio District Vigilance Officers (District VOs) in respect of the offices of all Government and other departments stationed in their respective districts.
Moreover, all the Government departments, local authorities, Corporations, Government companies or societies owned or controlled by the Government having their subordinate offices in districts will designate an officer to function as Additional Vigilance Officer (AVO) not below the rank of Under Secretary, who shall assist the District Vigilance Officer (District VO) in the vigilance administration pertaining to their respective departments.
It has further been ordered that prior to the appointment of Chief Vigilance Officers (CVOs), the Administrative Departments will submit a panel of three officers to the General Administration Department, which will nominate the Chief Vigilance Officer amongst the panel submitted by the Administrative Department in consultation with Anti-Corruption Bureau. The General Administration will issue the formal appointment orders in this behalf.
It is pertinent to mention here that to keep the mechanism of CVOs/DVOs actively functioning relating to vigilance administration in the Government departments, an online “Satark Nagrik App and DVO portal” was recently launched by the Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha. The CVOs and DVOs are supposed to communicate with the Anti-Corruption Bureau through this communication channel for effective vigilance administration.
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