The number of cases registered in 2015-16 by State Vigilance Organization (SVO) is all time high, with officials warning that the state is witnessing unprecedented rise in number of corruption cases and scams.J&K State Vigilance Organization record suggest that as many as 85 cases of corruption, 50 in Kashmir and 35 in Jammu, have been registered in 2015, and similarly in the present year, 29 cases of corruption, 14 in Jammu and 15 in Kashmir have been registered.Sources in the Vigilance Organization said that, from 2009 to 2016, the rate of complaints filed has jumped to about 90% and most of the complaints are registered as proven cases of corruption.One of the top officials of the vigilance organization told KNS that there is a deluge of complaints being received by the State Vigilance Organization from last two years. “In a number of complaints in 2015-16, allegations are mainly about violation of codal formalities in the award of contracts in Govt. works, purchases, appointments, promotions and transfer, denial of services by the Govt. Departments etc,” he said.The official said that often these complaints are lacking in specifics and with the result the department doesn’t attract provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act. “It is unfortunate that most of the departments are reluctant in sharing case history of the accused and as a result the cases gather dust and accused roam free,” the official said adding that delaying tactics by concerned departments is adding to woes of SVO.The vigilance records suggest that in 2014, 77 cases of corruption were registered by the organization with 43 in Kashmir and 34 in Jammu,
The records maintain that in 2013 the number of registered cases in the state were 36, including 19 in Kashmir and 17 in Jammu. Similarly, the number of cases registered in 2011 and 2012 remained 56 and 62.It is to mention here that successive governments have been “fighting” corruption and have created a series of institution. As the State Vigilance Organization (SVO) was unable to fight the corruption at high places in politics, State Accountability Commission was created. It remained headless for a long time and once it was revived the Commission started dusting the complaints pending disposalSources said that over 8,935 complaints received by the state vigilance commission, the highest anti-graft bodies are pending with various Departments of the State Government for the disposal.
“Hundreds of cases have been sent to different government departments for action and on the basis of evidence collected, prima facie charges have been established against identified officials, however so far action has been taken only in few cases and action against the remaining hundreds is pending,” one of the officials of the SVC said.The people believe that the departments like revenue department, education department, R&B department, Police, Social welfare offices that deal with social schemes have not shown accountability as there are no checks and inspections. “If there is a CCTV for every ATM why can’t there be CCTVs in government departments and offices? The chain of corruption needs to break. People should raise their voices against corruption which has paralyzed the state,” one of the senior citizens of Srinagar said.He said that corruption in our state is now stirred from the grass root level. “If a retired employee apply for his genuine right i.e. pension and in order to complete the formalities he/she has to pay bribe to complete the list of formalities, otherwise he/she has to face the tour from office to office. This is the only problem in the work culture of our government. Even the student who successfully passed their examination he/ she has to pay bribe on the name of ‘chai’ to get their Marks sheets,” he said and added that this defines how the roots of corruption have been embedded into our state. (KNS)