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Odisha: Naveen Patnaik's War Against Corruption

By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2020-12-25 03:42:44

About the Author

Sunil Garodia Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator. Author of Cyber Scams in India, Digital Arrest, The Money Trap and The Human Hack

There is no doubt that corruption is now the major stumbling block in our efforts to develop the nation. Almost all politicians acknowledge this but never take concrete steps to rectify the situation. Lower and middle level corruption is the termite that is washing away the gains of development. The politician-bureaucrat-businessman nexus needs to be well and truly smashed.

For the first time, a politician has taken concrete steps - at least on paper - to ensure that each and every person associated with delivering the benefits of the government schemes to the citizens, is made accountable. While the scheme sounds good on paper, the real test will be in implementing it.

Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik, added a new weapon to his ongoing war against corruption today by declaring that annual property statements of all public servants right from the sarpanch to MLAs, MPs & CM as well as government employees at all levels up to the chief secretary will be made public and submitted to the Lokayukta.

It might be recalled that Odisha already has a Special court to try corruption cases. This court is empowered to confiscate the assets of those found misappropriating public funds. The state government has already fired 91 corrupt officials in the last one year.

Patnaik was spot on when he told the BJD's state council that the fight against poverty, disease, injustice, natural calamities or regional disparities "will be worthless if we do not ensure transparency and eradicate corruption - the enemy of development".

But such schemes, though announced with a lot of fanfare, usually get buried later. The chief minister would do well to take the scheme online and prescribe timelines for uploading of information by concerned officials. In short, Naveen Patnaik will have to ensure that his good intentions are not killed by rogue bureaucrats backed by corrupt politicians.

 

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