The Government should encourage the honest officers for bringing in good governance and such officers should be promoted and not harassed, said Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer Sanjeev Chaturvedi while speaking at a seminar organised by the State forest department on the occasion of Civil Services Day on Saturday.
Chaturvedi, known for his image as an anti- corruption crusader, spoke candidly on the subject of corruption in the conference attended among others by the chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat.
The officer said that a trend has set in where only low ranked government employees get punished in corruption cases while big fishes go scot free. He said that there is a need to reverse this trend. Chaturvedi further suggested that the fast track courts should be set up to deal corruption cases so as to ensure that they do not linger on for years.
He said that there should be no political interference in the functioning of the bodies dealing with corruption. The IFS officer who is working as forest conservator Forest Research, Haldwani, suggested that the state government should deploy a vigilance officer in every department to curb corruption.
He also said that lokpal should be constituted promptly to rein in corruption. Notably, the forest department had invited the officer to speak on the occasion of Civil Services Day.
In his address, CM congratulated the officers on the Civil Services Day and said the officers should make a start from within themselves instead of looking at someone else outside.
He said that the state government intends to promote good officers. He exhorted the officers manning top positions to set examples for others to follow.
The principal chief conservator of forests Jai Raj said that the officers should not consider them as bosses but they should work as public servants.
Asking the officers to do serious introspection, he said that the officers should be friendly towards the people instead of behaving arrogantly.