With the lokayukta Office will be celebrating it’s 40 Foundation Day on coming September 14 but still the state’s anti-graft agency is looking for more teeth to make it more effecting and make an impact on controlling corruption in the State.
“We have sent a proposal to the state government to make lokayukta office more effective by giving it power just on the pattern provided in Madhya Pradesh, Karnatka etc”, disclosed RN Pandey, secretary at the lokayukta office. He made above comments while informing about how on the occasion of celebration of four decade of Foundation of the office, they had planned to carry out awareness drive amongst the masses telling them that how they could come forward with their complaints of corruption in the government offices.
Addressing media persons here on Friday afternoon, Pandey said that for creating awareness they will organise seminars at range and district level besides they will send teams to organise the same at thesil, block, panchayat level. He said that they will also send teams in Pension Adalats, Samadhan Diwas, by contacting retired officers to make people aware of how to use the lokayukta office to expose corruption. He claimed that they will also distribute pamphlets to make people aware that how any complaint could be filed at lokayukta office. Posters regarding it will be also pasted at all government offices and public places.
Pandey said that they also send a proposal to state government to make lokayukta office more effective. In their proposal, lokayukta office had recommended to brought CM, State Universities, Deemed Universities, organizations registered under societies registration act, gram pradhan, government and non-government trusts, government aided private institutions, along with private engineering and medical colleges etc under the ambit of the lokayukta office.
The state ombudsman strongly recommended that he should be given power to start probe `suo-motto’ in case he received or get any information of corruption or irregularity at high places. Till now, the hands of the lokayukta has been tied with a rule that any probe could not be started unless a complaint was received on a prescribed format supported by strong evidences to buttress charges of corruption against an government official. Sources said that under the above prevalent conditions, 90 percent of the applicants who turned up with inputs of corruption before lokayukta, failed to complete the formality which restrict the state ombudsman to initiate probe in the matter.
Similarly, state ombudsman wanted that just on the lines of Madhya, Pradesh, UP lokayukta should be also given power to carry out search operation on his own and not after taking permission from the government. likewise, in UP, at present if lokayukta wanted to start investigation against any officer by the sleuths of the Vigilance Establishment, the nodal government agency to check corruption at high place and take legal action, he has to recommend the matter to the state government. However, in MP, lokayukta could directly order an investigation by the vigilance department officials so the state ombudsman recommend to introduce this provision also in UP.
State ombudsman also recommended that to prosecute a guilty official, he should be empowered to give orders directly and not to wait for the state government’s nod for the same. At present, in UP, lokayukta had to recommend it to State government and discretion of prosecution sanction rests with the government. In MP, lokayukta had their own prosecuting officer and not had to depend on government advocates so the state ombudsman wanted that such facilities should be also started in UP.
In one another important recommendation, state ombudsman wanted that just like in Madhya Pradesh, where state ombudsman had his own `special courts’ to make a speedy trial of the accused officer, such courts should be also notified in UP so that a message could be sent down the line by punishing the corrupt officers at earliest. At present, majority of the corrupt officers who were held guilty in lokayukta enquiry, go scot free due to lengthy process of prosecution sanction as well as trial in courts.
It may be mentioned that earlier also, former lokayuktya, Justice (Retd) NK Mehrotra had made similar attempts during Samajwadi Party’s government regime but his efforts failed to bear fruits. Now with change of guard in the State, chief minister Yogi Adityanath is likely to empower the state ombudsman with more `power’ so rampant corruption in the high place in the government could be checked and culprits will be sent to jail.