Corruption Cases against 108 IRS Officers
THE Rajya Sabha was told yesterday in a written reply by the MoS, Personnel that from 2012 to June 2015, CBI had booked corruption cases against 108 IRS officers - 70 from CBEC and 38 from CBDT. During the same period 12 IAS officers and 1 IPS officer were caught in corruption cases.
To the questions,
1. what measures are being contemplated to identify and punish tainted officers; and
2. the details of steps taken or proposed to be taken by Government for making the bureaucracy more accountable and transparent?
the Minister replied,
The Central Government has already taken several measures to make the bureaucracy more accountable and transparent. These include:
(i) Vigilance Clearance is being denied to the officers, who do not file Immovable Property Return (IPR) within the stipulated time.
(ii) Placing of details of immovable property returns of all members of the All India Services and other Group' A' officers of the Central Government in the public domain.
(iii) Thirteen principles of ethics have been added to All India Service (Conduct) Rules, 1968.
(iv) Cases of prosecution pending in various Ministries/Departments are monitored by Department of Personnel & Training regularly.
(v) Introduction of e-Governance for improving the service delivery to citizens and enhancing transparency.
(vi) Simplification of procedures including abolition of affidavit and promotion of self-certification.
(vii) Advertisements campaigns to make the citizens aware about various Information Technology-based simplified procedures like e-filing of various tax returns.
(viii) The State Governments/Union Territory Administrations and various Ministries/Departments in Government of India have been asked to undertake regular screening exercise to weed out officers of doubtful integrity and also those who are non-productive.
(ix) Government has sanctioned 92 additional Special Courts across the Country to dispose of PC Act cases expeditiously. Of these, 86 Courts have become functional.
Following additional measures have also been undertaken to achieve the objectives of making the bureaucracy more accountable and transparent.
(i) Issue of comprehensive instructions on transparency in tendering and contracting process by the CVC;
(ii) Issue of instructions by the CVC asking the organizations to adopt Integrity Pact in major procurement activities; State Governments have also been advised to adopt Integrity Pact in major procurements;
(iii) The Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988;
(iv) Enactment of Right to Information Act, 2005;
(v) Enactment of Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013;
(vi) Enactment of Whistle-blowers Protection Act, 2011;
(vii) Issue of Citizen Charters;
(viii) Ratification of United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) in 2011.