BANGALORE: If you are one of the victims of harassment by officials of Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BMP) and have to pay bribe to get your work done, here is some news for you.

To check corruption and ensure transparency in administration, the BMP will set up a `corruption helpline', where people can call and complain about the corrupt official. The complaint will be redressed within 24 hours and the citizen will be informed about the action taken.

"This is going to be a reality soon and the BMP will announce the toll-free hotline number within a month," BMP Commissioner K. Jairaj said here on Saturday.

Speaking at the launch of `Suvarna Paravanige' (Automatic Plan Sanction for residential buildings), Mr. Jairaj said this step was aimed at making BMP a "professional and objective organisation."

"We have already simplified the process of issuing khatas. Soon, we will simplify the process of issuing trade licence. This will help traders get their licence through a single window system at the Deputy Commissioner's office," he said.

Grievances

Lokayukta N. Santosh Hegde, who launched the `Suvarna Paravanige' scheme, said: "Lokayukta is not only an adversary of corruption, but also a people-friendly institution, where people can get their grievances redressed."

"Eradicating corruption is an important task and we are at it. But apart from that we also have the responsibility of ensuring good governance," he said.

Pointing out that `Automatic Plan Sanction' was an important step towards checking corruption, the Lokayukta said more than 13,000 complaints were pending with the Lokayukta and inquiries were on.

"Why is that citizens, who have problems that can be solved at the lowest level in the BMP seek the Lokayukta's intervention? There should be an end to this," he said.

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