The Hindu : New Delhi News : Scam exposes Delhi Government's inefficiency

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Mar 11, 2005

New Delhi

New Delhi

Scam exposes Delhi Government's inefficiency

By Sujay Mehdudia

NEW DELHI, MARCH 10 . The exposure on television earlier this week of the bribery scam in the State Sales Tax Department has not only triggered off allegations of a "transfer scam" in the Delhi Government but also exposed the inefficiency of the Government in dealing with corruption in public dealing departments.

Widespread exploitation of the consumers and the common man was a well-known fact all along but the Government clearly failed to act on the complaints.

On the other hand, the issue has also brought out into the open a strong sense of resentment in the Council of Ministers and their ineffectiveness in dealing with any such situation.

It is to the credit of the Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit that she has stood by her Finance Minister, A.K. Walia, even after the eruption of such a huge corruption scam in a department under his leadership indicating the level of confidence she has in the abilities of the Finance Minister.

The State Chief Secretary, S. Regunathan, has remarked that lack of supervisory role had led to this present situation.

However, according to political observers the issue also brings to the fore the failure of the authorities at higher levels to deal with the situation and take action against the guilty.

As for the Anti-Corruption Wing of the Delhi Government, it had been sleeping over the matter and the various complaints against officials of the Sales Tax Department were shoved under the carpet.

This Department had been raising a clamour about catching people taking bribes of a thousand rupees or suchlike but has just missed out the big fish, putting under cloud its intentions and objectives.

The whole issue has also brought under a cloud the entire "transfer and posting" scenario in the Delhi Government and the way it is controlled and handled by the Chief Minister's Office.

According to observers, the entire process needs to be decentralised in order to ensure transparency. It is amazing that even for clerical level postings things have to be routed though the Chief Minister's Office.

"We do not have any control over such things. The Ministers cannot check the activities of the officers as they come under the preview of the Chief Minister. Only after Statehood is granted will we be able to get powers on individual basis,'' Dr. Walia said while talking to a television channel earlier this week.

On the other hand, preliminary investigations have revealed that these officials in the Sales Tax Department made huge amount of collections and there was a complete "bhagidari" in the sharing of booty.

According to some estimates, collections amounting to Rs. 1 crore per month were made and the bribe amount was distributed equally at various levels. Not only this, many Sales Tax Officers and Assistant Sales Tax Officers are alleged have paid huge sums to get themselves posted in the Department.

With the Government machinery standing completely exposed, the Opposition is now baying for blood.

"We are for an independent inquiry into the whole affair. The role of the Chief Minister's Office and the officers handling this work should be probed. The trail of money distribution should be traced and the beneficiaries identified," demanded the Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party president, Harsh Vardhan.

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