NEW DELHI, June 28: In a first, the Central Vigilance Commission has been chosen to lead a global task force to promote international cooperation in enforcement and prevention of corruption offences.
The objectives of the task force is to facilitate exchange of information about anti-corruption organisations, systems, procedures and practices.
It will also promote international cooperation in enforcement and prevention, define best practices and develop benchmarks and new approaches to tackle corruption in its various manifestations and assist in capacity building of anti-corruption authorities (ACAs), officials said.
The decision to assign the role of heading the task force to CVC was taken recently by the International Association of Anti-Corruption Authorities (IAACA), an independent, non-political anti-corruption organisation.
Central Vigilance Commissioner Pradeep Kumar had in April proposed creation of the task force and expressed interest in leading it during an executive committee meeting of IAACA in Tanzania which was attended by chiefs of anti-corruption watchdogs from various nations including India.
As per the proposal, the body aims at encouraging continuous cooperation between ACAs on issues of mutual concern, promoting best practice studies, research and data analysis consistent with diversity and sovereignty considerations, facilitating sharing of key practices and lessons learnt from individual members or regions and facilitating timely communication among IAACA members.
During the meeting held between March 30 – April 1, Kumar had also highlighted several initiatives being taken by certain countries and international organisations and suggested that the task force needs to explore ways of achieving suitable coordination and integration between such efforts to avoid duplication.
As per the initial proposal, the task force would be a 10-member body with a balanced representation of the diverse systems and regional settings.
The Central Vigilance Commission has also agreed to provide infrastructure, secretarial assistance and other facilities to support the activity besides funding the knowledge management activity.
“The CVC will lead the task force. A Knowledge Management System is proposed to be completed in 12 months. The members of the task force would be decided soon,” a CVC official said.
The issue has also come up during the second biennial meet of the International Corruption Hunters Alliance (ICHA), organised at World Bank headquarters in Washington and attended by representatives of 170 nations, held earlier this month.
The World Bank has appreciated the technological innovation in the especially designed project of the CVC- VIG EYE – a web-based system to report corruption by uploading videos, audios or raising complaints online during the meeting. (PTI)_
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