Dear citizens of Maharashtra
11 Activists may have been arrested, but RTI and corruption crusader
comes to the rescue of affected citizens in Maharashtra,
now all state staffers to declare their wealth because of CSIC Suresh Joshi
stern action against erring PIO's Read on
All state staffers have to declare assets, says CM
24 May 2009, 0144 hrs IST, Prafulla Marpakwar, TNN
MUMBAI: Chief minister Ashok Chavan on Saturday agreed with anti-corruption
crusader Anna Hazare that it should be made mandatory for the 20
lakh-and-odd state government employees to declare their assets.
"We have accepted the plea. If the elected representatives can declare their
assets while filing nomination papers, it will be appropriate for the
government employees to follow suit. As there is no mention of assets in the
service rules, we will amend it after a discussion with the Centre,'' Chavan
told Hazare.
The CM had convened a special meeting, which was attended by deputy CM Chhagan
Bhujbal and chief secretary Johny Joseph, where they discussed the issues
raised by Hazare. "I have asked the administration to draft a time-bound action
plan to implement the promises we made to Hazare,'' Chavan said.
Three years ago Hazare first took up the issue of declaration of state
employees' assets but it could not be accepted due to a dispute over the rule
involving All India Service officials. The state can amend the directives and
make it mandatory for its employees to declare their assets, but it cannot do
the same with All India Service officials. "We will have to discuss it with the
Centre. If the Centre agrees to have such a rule for All India service
officials as well, then only we can make it mandatory,'' a senior official told
TOI.
At the meeting, Hazare-in a bid to have effective implementation of the Right
to Information Act-asked Chavan to take stern action against erring officers
for the dereliction of duty. Hazare said one of the reasons for the large
number of pending cases-16,000-was owing to the failure of subordinate officers
in providing information. The state has no power to book an erring official;
only an information commissioner can take action against information officers
for their failure to provide information. "Since it involves amending the
rules, we will take it up with the Centre,'' Chavan said.
Hazare also demanded that action should be taken against officers who protect
their erring juniors. "Many juniors were responsible for irregularities, but
their seniors did not taken action against them,'' Hazare said.
Jai HO, Jai Hind
Leslie Almeida
