A laudable move against corruption

The Central government's decision to allow any person, common man or the government official, to lodge a complaint against a bureaucrat without disclosing the name and address of the complainant is a well advised move in the direction of removing corruption among the Indian bureaucracy where the corruption has always been rampant.

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If utilised wisely, Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh's move in this direction will prove to be a masterstroke in the long run as the prerequisite of providing name and address of the complainant while lodging a complaint against a bureaucrat has been a big deterrent against filing a complaint, especially to the government officials who were afraid of lodging a complaint against thier superiors due to the fear. The Prime Minister, who is also the minister concerned for Department of Personnel and Training, took this unusual step to infuse confidence among citizens to expose corruption.

Even though a large number of the government officials are honest and they are dead against corruption, they don't open thier mouth against the corrupt officials due to the fear of retaliatory actions by the corrupt officials who are well connected with each other. In most of the cases, the honest officials who muster courage to stand up and raise their voice will end up losing thier voice, thanks to the extent of corruption prevailing in the Indian bureacrcay. It is a common knowledge that nothing moves without money in the government offices today. The general public or junior officers were so far afraid to lodge complaints against the top bureaucrats and senior officials simply because they had to disclose their identity. This would often lead to threats and harassment by the officials against whom they had complained.

Now that the government has changed the rule, all that one has to do is to simply drop a complaint against a corrupt official either anonymously or using a pseudonym. All one has to do is write a properly framed complaint addressed to the Cabinet Secretary. The practice so far had been to dump anonymous and pseudonymous complaints in the garbage bin.

This is for the first time that pseudonymous complaints will be entertained by such a high-powered committee headed by Cabinet Secretary, who will not only call for the relevant files and records but may also seek the income tax and property returns of accused officers. After scrutiny of complaints, the government promises to take prompt action. All government officers, including the Secretaries of various government ministries, will be covered under the new rule.

Of course, this is a welcome step. And I am sure so may corrupt stories will be unfolded in the times to come through this medium as people can now fearlessly come forward to lodge complaint against the corrupt officials. Let us hope.