Corruption in administration causing suffering to citizens: Forum of Good Governance

Forum for Good Governance President M Padmanabha Reddy urged the Telangana government to speed up action in ACB cases. He said delays in prosecution and low conviction rates are weakening public trust, and recommended strict timelines for case handling

Hyderabad: Rampant corruption in the administration is causing a lot of suffering to the common man. In government offices, especially in departments like municipal administration, revenue and police, bribes have become regular, said Forum for Good Governance President M Padmanabha Reddy.

He said though the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) was registering cases against corrupt officials, such cases are only the tip of the iceberg when compared to the level of corruption prevailing in the administration.

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In a letter to Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, Padmanabha Reddy said the cases registered by ACB were not being prosecuted quickly. Permission to prosecute from the government is delayed, and manipulation takes place in the department concerned at the Secretariat. He requested that the procedure be streamlined for quick disposal of cases.

“Once ACB registers a case, the inquiry should be completed in three months and sent to the Vigilance Commission. The Commission should send the case with their advice within two weeks to the government,” he said.

Padmanabha Reddy suggested that the department in the Secretariat should act on the ACB’s inquiry report and the advice of the Vigilance Commission, and take a decision within one month.

“The case, once filed, should be vigorously pursued in court to get a conviction within one year. Now the cases registered are taking 8 to 10 years for their logical conclusion. The success rate of ACB cases is hardly 60 per cent. It should be improved by quick and proper filing of charge sheet and by producing evidence and witnesses,” he pointed out.

Padmanabha Reddy said the ACB was registering almost 20 cases per month, but due to delays and acquittals, people have lost confidence in the effectiveness of the agency.