Rajasthan to give anti-corruption whistleblowers protection

In a bid to promote 'zero tolerance' policy against corruption the Rajasthan government has taken a step further by offering protection to whistleblowers from victimisation if they report the corrupt practices of public servants. All state government departments have received a circular in this regard the Chief Minister's Office said on Tuesday. As per the circular issued by the home department, all state government departments have been directed not to obstruct or hamper the works and requests of those persons who write to the Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) about the illegal practices adopted by the officers or employees of the concerned department.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot had directed to this effect recently during his review meeting of the ACB at the Bureau Headquarters. He had said that corruption would not be tolerated in any form in Rajasthan and those raising their voice against the corrupt practices would be given full protection. 

Furthermore, the state government had directed all the Additional Chief Secretaries, Principal Secretaries, and the Secretaries of various departments to ensure that the legally doable works of the complainants were discarded as per the norms and their problems were rectified without any delay. Also, such whistleblowers should not be subjected to victimisation unnecessarily.

The circular further instructed that concerned departments should hold regular meetings to review the complaints or requests related to such petitioner.

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Electoral Bonds another form of corruption: Gehlot

Reiterating his stance over electoral bonds, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Monday said these were another form of corruption and black money still existed despite the Centre's decision of demonetisation.

"The Centre had claimed that demonetisation would curb black money but unfortunately this has not happened. Black money still exists and electoral bonds are another form of it," Gehlot said. The Chief Minister once again said it was useless to talk of ending corruption until the flow of black money to political parties was not stopped.

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(With Agency Inputs)