Times of India: Puducherry:
18 September 2020.
Close to one-fourth of the Group A and B government officials in the Union territory of Puducherry failed to declare their assets and liabilities for the year 2019.
Of the 10,949 Group A and B officers, a whopping 2,506 officers did not declare their assets in 2019, according to a reply given by public information officer cum undersecretary (vigilance) M Kannan to an RTI query filed by RTI activist and member of National Campaign for People’s Right to Information Saurav Das.
Kannan initially refused to divulge information to Das's RTI query. However, he was directed by the first appellate authority (FAA) in chief vigilance office H P S Sran to furnish the list of defaulting officials after Das filed an appeal before the FAA.
The FAA also directed Kannan to digitize asset declarations of the officials. The declaration of assets by the officers annually is mandatory for promotions, transfers and retirement benefits. The practice is mainly to prevent corruption and to keep a track on the properties of the government servants and identify their properties disproportionate to their known source of income.
The defaulting officials, who failed to submit their annual immovable property returns, included private secretaries to ministers, deputy directors of various departments, professors, associate professors, assistant professors, principals, lecturers, teachers, police superintendents, inspectors and sub-inspectors among others. The details of assets acquired by the spouses and dependents of the officials using their own funds are not required to be declared to the government.
"Finally, after a long battle with the CVO office, a proper system for tracking officers' assets has now been put in place. I am happy that secretary Sran agreed to my arguments of larger public interest involved in the matter. I was puzzled over the absence of a proper system to track officers, who may have disproportionate assets. Recently, I have been informed that chief secretary Ashwini Kumar has directed the chief vigilance office to make the entire exercise of annually declaring assets in an online platform. Coming January, all officers will have to declare their assets online. This will help ensure that officers declare their assets within time and ensure that suitable action is initiated automatically," said Das.
Kannan said the chief vigilance office had initiated necessary action against the defaulting officers following the orders of chief vigilance officer Ashwani Kumar, who is also the chief secretary.
"I have been informed that notices are being issued to all defaulting officers and suitable action is being initiated against them. I hope that the CVO makes suo motu disclosure of such data annually to ensure transparency and accountability in the administration," Das said.
Close to one-fourth of the Group A and B government officials in the Union territory of Puducherry failed to declare their assets and liabilities for the year 2019.
Of the 10,949 Group A and B officers, a whopping 2,506 officers did not declare their assets in 2019, according to a reply given by public information officer cum undersecretary (vigilance) M Kannan to an RTI query filed by RTI activist and member of National Campaign for People’s Right to Information Saurav Das.
Kannan initially refused to divulge information to Das's RTI query. However, he was directed by the first appellate authority (FAA) in chief vigilance office H P S Sran to furnish the list of defaulting officials after Das filed an appeal before the FAA.
The FAA also directed Kannan to digitize asset declarations of the officials. The declaration of assets by the officers annually is mandatory for promotions, transfers and retirement benefits. The practice is mainly to prevent corruption and to keep a track on the properties of the government servants and identify their properties disproportionate to their known source of income.
The defaulting officials, who failed to submit their annual immovable property returns, included private secretaries to ministers, deputy directors of various departments, professors, associate professors, assistant professors, principals, lecturers, teachers, police superintendents, inspectors and sub-inspectors among others. The details of assets acquired by the spouses and dependents of the officials using their own funds are not required to be declared to the government.
"Finally, after a long battle with the CVO office, a proper system for tracking officers' assets has now been put in place. I am happy that secretary Sran agreed to my arguments of larger public interest involved in the matter. I was puzzled over the absence of a proper system to track officers, who may have disproportionate assets. Recently, I have been informed that chief secretary Ashwini Kumar has directed the chief vigilance office to make the entire exercise of annually declaring assets in an online platform. Coming January, all officers will have to declare their assets online. This will help ensure that officers declare their assets within time and ensure that suitable action is initiated automatically," said Das.
Kannan said the chief vigilance office had initiated necessary action against the defaulting officers following the orders of chief vigilance officer Ashwani Kumar, who is also the chief secretary.
"I have been informed that notices are being issued to all defaulting officers and suitable action is being initiated against them. I hope that the CVO makes suo motu disclosure of such data annually to ensure transparency and accountability in the administration," Das said.
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