Govt graft: 2,700 vigilance plaints filed in five years at rate of 1 a day

Panaji: On average, more than one corruption and misconduct complaint per day was filed against govt employees and public representatives with the directorate of vigilance over the past five years. Since March 2020, 2,741 complaints have been filed with the directorate.
Thirty-one complaints were disposed of and 39 have been pending over the period. But nobody was arrested in any of the cases over the past five years.
A senior govt officer said that not all complaints received at the office are registered, and some cases are disposed of at the preliminary stage.
The directorate of vigilance comprises the general vigilance cell, the technical cell, and the anti-corruption branch. The directorate probes complaints against govt servants and employees of PSUs and autonomous bodies involving corruption, lack of integrity, and misconduct.
Officials have been booked for offences such as seeking illegal gratification and misusing official power.
During the period in question, over 15 govt officers were placed under suspension, but most were reinstated. The reasons for officers being suspended include allegedly fraudulently obtaining loans from various banks/cooperative societies with allegedly forged salary certificates and an alleged sexual molestation of a patient. In one case, a suspension occurred after the complainant said that a three-phase connection was not released, though a three-phase meter was in place.
Other reasons for suspension include the purchase of a large stock of expired medicines or medicines declared sub-standard by the Food and Drugs Administration.
A senior officer said that Rule 10(7) of Central Civil Services (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules, 1965, provides that an order of suspension made or deemed to be made under Sub-rules (1) or (2) shall not be valid after ninety days unless it is extended after review for a further period.
Offences also included fraudulently grabbing plots of land, issuing certificates to foreign nationals in a suspicious manner, illegality in the selection of awal karkuns, and exhibiting a lack of application of mind, dereliction of duty, and negligence. In some cases, chargesheets were filed against govt officials.