Friends,
Central Vigilance Commission has posted DRAFT NATIONAL ANTI-CORRUPTION STRATEGY on their web site and invited comments from public. The comments sent by me are placed below.
Although 31.10.2010 was the last date, I hope that CVC is open to practical and workable suggestions.
Dhirendra Krishna
...........................................................................................................................................
COMMENTS ON DRAFT NATIONAL ANTI-CORRUPTION STRATEGY
Strategy to deal with petty corruption
· Transparency is an essential ingredient of anti-corruption strategy, in public procurement. All factors leading to procurement should be in file noting, which are in public domain and can be accessed by any citizen under RTI Act 2005.
· Section 4 of RTI Act provides the framework of disclosure and dissemination of information that is obligatory for all public authorities.
· Quality of disseminating information needs improvement, so that critical information in vulnerable areas is disclosed and disseminated, to contain corruption.
· There is need for sustained improvement in quality of disclosure in areas vulnerable to corruption. Whenever any irregularity or "vigilance angler " comes to notice, Central Vigilance Officer may examine whether better transparency and disclosure / dissemination of information to all stake-holders can reduce the chances of corrupt practices.
· It should be the duty of Central Vigilance Officer in every public authority to critically review the implementation of section 4 of RTI Act in letter and spirit.
· CVC may monitor through the Annual Reports from CVCs, to ensure that they are vigilant in improving the systems, to ensure transparency, fairness and accountability.
Action: Public Authorities, CVO, and CVC
ADMINISTRATIVE CORRUPTION
· There are serious limitations of audit by C&AG and departmental internal audit, as these audits by limited staff only look at records and cannot reach the grass roots. Major corruption is by doing work "on paper", without physical accomplishments on ground. Existing audit practices are unable to contain such corrupt practices.
· Auditors depend upon internal control systems established by the executives and can only comment upon the quality of internal administrative controls, based upon their test check.
· Audit by C&AG and Social Audit by citizens should supplement Internal Audit. C&AG has already decided that findings of Social Audit should be incorporated in his Audit Reports/Inspection Reports.
· There is need to cultivate and encourage Social Auditors, who can give an independent and realistic appraisal of performance of grass-root public authorities. Section 4(2) of RTI Act envisages suo-moto disclosure of information required by citizens, so that they do not resort to RTI applications. CVOs should ensure that this is implemented in letter and spirit; it is in public interest to disclose and disseminate information relating to vulnerable areas, where corruption is likely. Annual Report from CVI to CVC should include his/her assessment of measures taken to promote Social Audit by citizens, as an anti-corruption measure.
Action: Public Authorities, CVO, and CVC
LEVERAGING TECHNOLOGY: eTENDER, ePAYMENT, eRECIEPTS, etc.
Instructions issued by CVC have been the driving force behind extensive use of I.T. in improving the procurement systems, for the sake of transparency, fairness and public accountability. There is need for sustained improvements based on best practices in public procurement evolved in other countries and supply chain management to reduce the overall costs. There are several professional developments that can be adopted. For example eProcurement systems evolved in European Union has resulted in transparent system, where all member-countries have equal opportunity of participating in public procurement, with extensive use of I.T. USA has greater degree of transparency in procurement and contract management. National Audit Office in Australia has laid down practical guidelines for contract management, to reduce disputes. World Bank procurement guidelines have several unique features.
According to report of Transparency International, corruption in India has increased, despite the initiatives taken by CVC to contain corruption. It is suggested that an expert committee may be formed to advise CVC on improving procurement practices, consistant with the requirements of the Constitution of India.
Action: CVC
CVC GUIDELINES
There are large number of CVC guidelines that are sent to Chief Vigilance Officer. CVO is required to place them before CMD. The number of such guidelines is so large that unless it gets incorporated in departmental instructions, nothing gets implemented, in practice. For example, in recent Workshop conducted by me, I found that none of the 37 executives had even heard of "Integrity Pact" implemented by the company several years back. It is not enough to put these vigilance related issues on the web site, unless operational responsibilities are clearly defined in detailed instructions.
It should be the duty of CVO to monitor whether CVC guidelines get converted into operating instructions and this should be reported in the Annual Report of CVO to CVC.
Action: CVC, CVO
INSTUTIONAL FRAMEWORK FOR DEALING WITH CORRUPTION
Draft strategy prepared by CVC aims to remove the structural flaws in anti-corruption measures, so that delay in awarding punishment is reduced. These recommendations pertain to Investigating agency, Sanctioning Authority and Judiciary. There are several good suggestions in the draft strategy, but their implementation is the basic problem. One has to examine why the current system is failing and remove the imperfections, striking at the root-causes.
CVC wants final decision from judiciary within one year. It is suggested that practical and workable suggestions can emerge only from in-depth analysis of few live examples. For example,
· There are several cases pending before judiciary for over 10 years, without framing of charges. CVC may get the list of cases of inordinate judicial delays from CBI and Police. In the case of late Shri Rajiv Gandhi, former Prime Minister of India, it took 14 years for the Courts to find that no charges can be framed against him. Actual reasons for delay can be found by detailed analysis of few cases.
· Shri V Krishnamurthi (former CMD BHEL, SAIL, Muruti) was put behind bars and faced prosecution for several years, before being declared innocent. There are number of cases emerging from incorrect facts stated by CBI/Police in the Charge Sheet, where litigation gets prolonged and accused is finally exonerated. Cases where facts stated by CBI/Police were factually incorrect may be examined, to consider whether there are systemic flaws.
· There are no penal consequences for the investigating officers who state wrong facts in the Charge Sheet and executives who give wrong and misleading information to Investigating officer, resulting in prolonged litigation. There is need for stringent measures, so that judiciary is not burdened with false cases and quick action can be taken to punish the guilty.
CVO should be directed to keep track of pending cases. It is corporate responsibility to ensure that operations of a company are free of corrupt practices and CVO assists CMD in this vital function. It is also their duty to ensure that innocent persons are not harassed. Sanctioning Authority is required to ascertain facts, before sanctioning criminal prosecution of an employee, under Prevention of Corruption Act. Even after criminal prosecution is sanctioned, facts should be verified by holding departmental enquiry in a time bound manner, so that Sanctioning Authority is satisfied that there is no mistake of facts, in case pending before judiciary.
Departmental enquiry can run parallel to the judicial process, which takes much longer time. Findings of departmental proceeding can be submitted to the Judiciary, wherever a person is found innocent, to avoid prolonged litigation.
Action : CVC, Ministry of Law and Justice Government of India
No comments:
Post a Comment