HASSAN: Owing to some loopholes in the Lokayukta Act, it has been decided to henceforth book cases against corrupt officials under the Prevention of Corruption Act as it will help in checking corruption at least to some extent, Lokayukta N. Venkatachalaiah has said.

Speaking to presspersons at Sakleshpur on Tuesday after inspecting various government offices, he said that till recently, he was of the opinion that the Lokayukta Act would help in checking corruption. However, of late, he was convinced that the Act was of little use in checking corruption and the only way to address the issue was to book cases against corrupt officials under the Prevention of Corruption Act, he added.

"After serving for over four years as the Lokayukta, I have lost hope in the Lokayukta Act. There will be no respite for people from corrupt officials as long as cases are booked under the Lokayukta Act. In view of this, I have decided to take the extreme step of booking cases under the Prevention of Corruption Act," he said.

The Lokayukta, who inspected the Crawford Hospital, the taluk office, the Regional Transport Authority office and the town municipality office, said nothing seemed to be functioning according to rules in this taluk.

During his visit to Crawford Hospital, the Lokayukta found doctors administering medicine past their expiry date. He also found irregularities at the tahsildar's office. He said the funds allocated to implement welfare schemes for Dalits in the town municipality had been misused. He received over 200 complaints at a public hearing.

Angered by the "failure" of the district administration in setting things right, he directed Deputy Commissioner K.H. Ashwathanarayana Gowda to take steps to supersede the Sakleshpur Town Municipal Council and initiate action against the official concerned.

Mr. Venkatachalaiah, who visited various government offices in Arsikere taluk on Monday evening, said there was total anarchy at the taluk hospital. Despite sending a notice, the Medical Superintendent had failed to address various problems in the hospital. The patients complained that despite enough stock of medicine, the doctors forced them to buy medicine from outside. When he entered the storeroom, he found medicines worth thousands of rupees lying unused. The Lokayukta instructed District Health Officer Nagaraja Rao to initiate action against the hospital in-charge for dereliction of duty.

When he visited the sub-registrar's office, the Sub-Registrar reportedly admitted that he accepted "small amounts" from those who came to get their property registered and that he never forced anybody in this regard.

However, the people there alleged that the officials would harass them to pay a fixed amount to register property. Mr. Venkatachalaiah directed Registrar Siddaiah to initiate action against the Sub-Registrar.

Extension of term

When asked whether he would seek an extension as his term will end soon, Mr. Venkatachalaiah said he had no plans in this regard. He would make sincere efforts to eradicate corruption as long as he held the post, he added.

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