Delhiites no more ringing 1031 anti-graft helpline!

The number of people ringing the much-publicised 1031 anti-graft helpline re-launched by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal at Talkatora Indoor Stadium on April 5 has declined by 90 per cent. The helpline was first launched by the AAP Government during its 49 day tenure in 2013. After receiving tremendous response in 2013, the AAP Government had re-launched the helpline to put a check on the officers allegedly indulging in corrupt practices. 

On April 6, the helpline had received as many as 14,189 calls but the number fell down to as low as 1,541 on May 10. The decline in the number of calls has even forced the AAP Government to remove seven of the eight facilitators from the helpline to other departments. The job of the facilitators was to filter calls for further investigations and they were appointed on March 13, much before the re-launch of the helpline. Earlier, the facilitators were being assisted by eight Superintendents of the DASS cadre. Now, one facilitator has eight superintendents at his disposal. Among the facilitators transferred are RK Dabral, AB Chakraborty, Neelam Venkatachalam, Gangadeep Tanuj Bahnot and Geeta Ratra.

Figures show that the anti-graft helpline received 10,994 calls on April 5, 14,189 on April 6 and 10,489 on April 7. The average number of calls received by the helpline was between 2,000 and 3,000 from April 23 to April 27. The number of calls received by the helpline went down further in May. While 1,541 calls were received on May 10, 1,995 on May 11 and just 918 on May 12. “People seem to have lost interest in the anti-graft helpline,” an official working with the 24 x 7 helpline said.

Before the re-launch of 1031 anti-graft helpline, the AAP Government had also launched an advertising blitz to make people aware about the usage of the helpline. During that time the CM himself had asked the people to lodge complaints if they were harassed for bribes by any officer. Within 24 hours of its re-launch, the helpline is said to have received thousands of calls with most of the callers wanting to know about the process of registering a graft case.

Reports suggest that the Government spent about Rs 7 crore on its 15-day advertising campaign on the anti-graft helpline. The massive publicity of 1031 helpline was done through outdoor media, FM radio channels and SMSes. The government had put up huge panels at about 1,500 outdoor locations, rent free sites, bus queue shelters, display boards, railway bridge panels, unipoles, Delhi Metro and on rear windows and screens of about 1,000 DTC buses.

With the AAP Government yet to come to terms with lG Najeeb Jung-appointed joint commissioner of police, Mukesh Kumar Meena, as the head of the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB), the department’s work is said to have further hit with the recent transfers of the facilitators to different wings of the city administration. A source said even no fresh cases have been registered after Meena’s appointment in the ACB.The row between the Government and Jung has a debilitating impact on the ACB’s anti-graft helpline.