Odisha chief secy bats for preventive vigilance to root out corruption

Bhubaneswar, Sep 11 (PTI) Odisha Chief Secretary Manoj Ahuja on Thursday directed all department heads and district collectors to adopt preventive vigilance measures to eliminate corruption and exclude officials of doubtful integrity from sensitive roles.

In a letter addressed to additional chief secretaries, principal secretaries, the director general of the vigilance directorate, commissioner-cum-secretaries of all departments, revenue divisional commissioners (RDCs), and collectors, Ahuja emphasised the state government's commitment to clean, transparent, and citizen-centric governance.

Referring to recent cases of corruption detected by the vigilance department, the chief secretary highlighted the urgent need for proactive and sustained focus on preventive vigilance.

"Mere punitive action is not sufficient; root causes of corruption must be systematically eliminated through administrative, legal, social, economic, and educative measures," he said.

Ahuja asked the authorities to constitute an internal vigilance committee (IVC) in all departments to identify sensitive areas and prepare short- and long-term action plans, adopt and scale up technology-driven reforms such as EoDB (ease of doing business), WAMIS (Works and Accounts Management Information System), e-tendering, e-procurement, Work Passbook, DBT for funds transfer and online HR management systems.

"Enforce transparent HR practices including staff rotation, fair and transparent online transfers, and exclusion of officials of doubtful integrity from sensitive roles," Ahuja said in the letter asking authorities to empower citizens by displaying service timelines under ORTPS (Odisha Right to Public Service) Act, 2013 in offices, monitoring compliance through dashboards, and actively using feedback systems.

He also directed the heads of departments to institutionalise a culture of zero tolerance towards corruption by periodic review, open discussions among senior officers, and structured monitoring of feedback.

He also directed that these instructions must be disseminated among all officials for compliance and emphasised that a strong preventive vigilance framework will enable realization of a truly responsive and people-oriented government. PTI AAM AAM MNB