The Delhi Government has doubled the strength of its Anti-Corruption Bureau for effective handling of the cases reported to its anti-corruption helpline (1031), which will be re-launched by the Chief Minsiter at Talkatora stadium in the Capital on April 5. Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said on Wednesday that the number of inspectors in the ACB has been increased to 40. “That means effectively we will be having about 40 teams ready at any given point of time to crack cases related to corruption.” Earlier the ACB strength was functioning with 20 inspectors.
“The Government has also decided to increase the number of other senior officers in the team,” said Sisodia. Besides increasing its staff strength, the Delhi Government has directed to increase the budget allocation to the anti-graft wing. Sisodia said that the officers of the ACB have been fully trained to handle the cases reported to the anti-corruption helpline. “The budgets of the ACB and vigilance branch have been increased from Rs8 crore to Rs15 crore,” he added.
According to a senior officer, the Delhi Dialogue Commission (DDC), an advisory body of the AAP Government, will study global practices and define vision of ACB. “DDC is advisory body which will conduct a study of successful and effective global practices and its implementation.
DDC will also decide on overall structure and functioning of ACB,” Sisodia said. Anti-corruption helpline will officially start on April 5, one can still report complaints as the Government has begun a trial run of the helpline.
The helpline will be a revival of the service which the AAP Government had launched during its 49-day stint in power after the Assembly elections of 2013. A dedicated helpline for reporting cases of corruption was one of the major promises in AAP’s manifesto. According to the official, the helpline received over one lakh calls during AAP’s previous term. Most of the complaints were against Delhi Police, the official said.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has already directed all the heads of departments to install a board at their offices displaying message about the helpline for awareness of visitors. A circular in this regard is being issued to all the Principal Secretaries, Secretaries, HoDs and heads of autonomous bodies.
The Government is planning to launch the publicity campaign on outdoor media, Radio FM and through SMSes to reach out to people from all walks of life. A proposal has been moved suggesting that the advertisements be put up at about 1,500 outdoor locations, including rent free sites, bus queue shelters, display boards, railway bridge panels, unipoles, public utilities and panels inside Delhi Metro. The advertisements may also be put up on the rear windows and screens of about 1,000 DTC buses. Kejriwal’s voice may be used in radio jingles.