They promised stringent action against erring officials and for this purpose they issued dictate to reduce arbitrary powers of officials and to bring about transparency in all decisions and in all action. But they miserably failed as usually they failed during last 65 years of rule. Reign of injustice is rampant in all offices, all departments and in all courts. Politicians who are said to be master of Country and who are path makers for the country are the root of all corruption , as Arvind Kejriwal also claims and as long as they are eliminated , one cannot dream of corruption free India.
73 departments ignore diktat on disclosing ministers' arbitrary powers- Economic times
NEW DELHI: Nearly two and a half years after UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi urged ministers to give up their discretionary powers to curb the taint of corruption on the government, the idea seems to be going nowhere as just eleven out of 84 departments have complied with a diktat to regulate and disclose ministers' personal powers.
The long list of ministries that have not fallen in line with the directive yet includes ministries such as telecom and coal, both of which have been at the centre of the 2G spectrum and coal block allocation scams that have rocked the UPA-2's tenure.
The government had accepted the recommendations to 'minimise arbitrariness' in exercise of ministerial powers made by a ministerial group tasked with countering corruption opportunities. Instructions were issued to all departments last April to complete the implementation and report completion within 15 days.
The departments of revenue, space, atomic energy, information technology, rural development and agricultural research and education, and the ministries of steel, labour, power, health and new & renewable energy have set up regulatory parameters to bind ministers' discretion and put them in the public domain, a government official told ET.
The 73 departments or ministries that have failed to act have been sternly told to explain the reasons for delay. The ministry of coal, wracked by allegations that it allotted captive coal blocks in an opaque manner, has claimed only discretionary powers to nominate representatives to the board of trustees of the Coal Mines Provident Fund, and to the national and regional coal consumer councils.
The department of telecommunications, at the centre of the 2G scam red-flagged by the CAG, has claimed that it only has discretion to nominate members to the Telephone Advisory Committee and to sanction out-of-turn telephone connections.
The department of defence, at the centre of numerous procurement scams, has claimed only the power to give financial assistance to ex-servicemen and widows from the Raksha Mantri Discretionary Fund. However, even in this case, pointed out the department, the recommendations were actually made by a committee. Thus, "in real sense there is no discretion enjoyed by the minister in these cases," the department concluded.
Crucial defence institutions such as the Defence Research and Development Organisationand the department of defence production have claimed they have no discretionary powers whatsoever.
The ministry of corporate affairs, on the other hand, claims that since its duties and powers are 'mandated by statute and regulations and rules', there is 'no scope for any discretionary powers'.
The long list of ministries that have not fallen in line with the directive yet includes ministries such as telecom and coal, both of which have been at the centre of the 2G spectrum and coal block allocation scams that have rocked the UPA-2's tenure.
The government had accepted the recommendations to 'minimise arbitrariness' in exercise of ministerial powers made by a ministerial group tasked with countering corruption opportunities. Instructions were issued to all departments last April to complete the implementation and report completion within 15 days.
The departments of revenue, space, atomic energy, information technology, rural development and agricultural research and education, and the ministries of steel, labour, power, health and new & renewable energy have set up regulatory parameters to bind ministers' discretion and put them in the public domain, a government official told ET.
The 73 departments or ministries that have failed to act have been sternly told to explain the reasons for delay. The ministry of coal, wracked by allegations that it allotted captive coal blocks in an opaque manner, has claimed only discretionary powers to nominate representatives to the board of trustees of the Coal Mines Provident Fund, and to the national and regional coal consumer councils.
The department of telecommunications, at the centre of the 2G scam red-flagged by the CAG, has claimed that it only has discretion to nominate members to the Telephone Advisory Committee and to sanction out-of-turn telephone connections.
The department of defence, at the centre of numerous procurement scams, has claimed only the power to give financial assistance to ex-servicemen and widows from the Raksha Mantri Discretionary Fund. However, even in this case, pointed out the department, the recommendations were actually made by a committee. Thus, "in real sense there is no discretion enjoyed by the minister in these cases," the department concluded.
Crucial defence institutions such as the Defence Research and Development Organisationand the department of defence production have claimed they have no discretionary powers whatsoever.
The ministry of corporate affairs, on the other hand, claims that since its duties and powers are 'mandated by statute and regulations and rules', there is 'no scope for any discretionary powers'.
No comments:
Post a Comment