JAMMU: Present in the presence of administrative secretaries and deputy commissioners, Chief Secretary Dr. Arun Kumar Mehta conducted an assessment of the state of preparations for the forthcoming “Vigilance Awareness Week,” which will be observed nationwide starting on October 31. Officers stationed outside of the area took part via video conference. During the event, Dr. Mehta argued that the measures implemented in the previous several years had made the system more transparent and accountable. He went on to say that this has strengthened public confidence in the government.He restated that the LG Administration is totally dedicated to provide its residents a governing system free from corruption and that it will stop at nothing to achieve this goal. He noted that coordinated attempts were made to shift authority from official corridors to the hands of regular people during the current era. He reminded them that the introduction of BEAMS, e-tendering, mandatory administrative approval, and technical sanction, among other measures, had established financial discipline and led to a remarkable rise in the quantity of projects being finished here. He described it as illuminating because, with almost same funding, there were over 92,560 initiatives in 2022–2023 compared to just 9,229 in 2018–19.The Chief Secretary said that the use of IT has greatly increased transparency, allowing all project and service details to be made available to the general public. The Public Services Guarantee Act (PSGA) and RTI have given citizens the legal right to empowerment when it comes to pursuing their rights. The IGRAMS and JKGRAMS websites have made it more easier for citizens to project their complaints in front of top officials and to have them promptly resolved.The Chief Secretary instructed the district’s Incharge Secretaries to closely oversee the events taking place during Vigilance Awareness Week and educate the public about its significance at the public darbars that their respective districts would host. In order to reduce the likelihood of corruption, he encouraged them to urge the public to use digital platforms or the DigiDost facility to access all services directly from the comfort of their homes. He gave the order to divide the week’s festivities into thematic groups that involved various social groups. He requested that every social class in the mileau be given a chance to be heard and informed about the actions being done to combat corruption.He suggested that the first day of the week be devoted to the CVC’s instructions, which fall under the topic of “Say No to Corruption; Commit to the Nation.” He then instructed us to set aside additional days to honour regular people, well-meaning social activists, students, NGOs, welfare groups, and others for their contributions to eliminating corruption in J&K and for acting upon their advice. Dr Mehta also counselled the Deputy Commissioners to include every member of the Urban and Rural Local Bodies in this vigorous anti-corruption drive. He requested that at the conclusion of the week, every complaint that has been received up to this point be addressed and resolved to the complete satisfaction of the citizen who filed it.Earlier, Commissioner/Secretary of GAD, Sanjeev Verma, provided a summary of the events scheduled for this week, which runs from October 30, 2023, to November 5, 2023. He provided information on this week’s activities and directives issued by the Central Vigilance Commission. In addition to emphasising the significance of the Public Interest Disclosure & Protection of Informer Resolution, 2004 (PIDPI), he announced that all staff will be taking the integrity vows this week. He said that in order to increase public awareness of the need to combat and eradicate this threat from the UT, thousands of camps will be held throughout the districts, starting at the Panchayat level.
