Friday 14 August 2015

Towards A Corruption-free India…


DGP Praveen Dixit, Director General, Anti Corruption Bureau Maharashtra addressed members of Rotary Club of Bombay West recently on Measures to Promote Corruption Free Society. He was welcomed by President Shirish Rege and introduced to the audience by President Elect Rtn.Aslam Merchant.

A dynamic person and an Honorary Rotarian of the Club for 2015-16, DGP Dixit has been instrumental in bringing to book many  corrupt politicians and bureaucrats. He has become kind of iconic for those who wish to see the Country prospering in the right direction in corruption free environment. Thanks to his reputation and zest, people from remote locations feel empowered and come forward to report cases of corruption with conviction that it will be resolved because of him.

He divided his talk in two parts. Corruption having two sides- Supply and Demand. The supply part being the private companies who prefer to take easier option of bribing officials to get their way. India stands 84th in corrupt countries which is a cause for worry. He cited examples of Union Carbide and Green Peace for getting their way through. As ethical global companies shun corrupt countries for expanding their business, we would lose out on opportunities. Moreover, the top brass of Indian companies too are interested in fudging their books of accounts. He advocated that there should be penal sanctions on such companies of the kinds which exist in Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, etc. Companies should not resort to evading the scrutiny of their books but instead voluntarily offer ethical conduct. They should follow the codes and pacts developed by ‘Transparency International’. The Board of Directors must insist on recording all transactions and that the company books should be open for scrutiny at all times. Companies should follow rules of conduct framed by the International Chamber of Commerce. He said while answering questions at this juncture that India too is moving forward formulating stringent Acts to fight corruption at supply end.

He then went on to narrate about the actions taken during his tenure. He said the victims of these corrupt practices are across all cross sections of society, from disabled, senior citizens to marginalized sections. Heartening thing, he said, is that youth is coming forward to report these incidents. The accused again were from all professions, i.e. Revenue Officers, Doctors, Engineers, Advocates, Teachers, Police officers, Elected Members of Local Bodies and so on. Female accused interestingly seemed about 10%.  He gave impressive statistics of the number of traps laid and convictions about corrupt practices, disproportionate assets and said that again convictions have taken place across all sections. Traps are laid even in remote places as far away as beyond Gadchiroli and people are coming forward to report such cases from every district and Tehsil in Maharashtra. He spoke about catching people resorting to corruption in welfare schemes too.

He exhorted everyone to come forward to report corruption cases to make our society corruption free.

He elaborated on effective use of technology and social media and gave the web-based mobile friendly application at www.acbmaharashtra.net and toll free number 1064 to report incidents of corruption. One can also lodge a complaint on official website www.acbmaharashtra.gov.in or on email to www..acbwebmail@mahapolice.gov.in.  Complaints can also be lodged through the Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/MaharashtraACB.

While answering a good number of questions, he said that earlier the moral values and ethics that were inculcated at home, need to be now included in school curriculum to drive home such issues.

Past President Rajendra Ruia thanked Hon.Rtn Praveen Dixit  as also his wife Mrs.Arundhati Dixit for honouring the Club with their gracious presence. Rtn.Ruia informed the audience that Mr.Dixit was recently nominated as the first President of Rotary District 3140 Peace Alumni Association chartered recently by Rotary International. He praised Mr Dixit’s initiatives in use of social media. At the end, he quoted Mr Dixit…  we all have to do our bit and pay some price to make our country corruption free.

 Report Dr.(Mrs.) Kavita Rege, Principal, Sathaye College & First Lady of RCBW

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