CVC seeks dedicated wing to probe important cases

Kumar expressed concern over paucity of manpower in the Commission and enactment of 'False Claim Act' to punish the guilty and recover the loss to the exchequer caused by companies or contractors in executing public works.

"There is a need for creation of a dedicated investigation wing as certain important cases are inquired into directly by the Commission," he told PTI. "The CVC has been mandated by the Act to exercise superintendence over the entire vigilance administration. However, the Act requires the CVC to exercise this function according to the directions issued by the government thus limiting its independence," Kumar said.

For instance, he said, the CVC has limited say in the selection of the Chief Vigilance Officers who serve as the arm of the Commission in various organisations.

On the 2G issue, the chief of the anti-corruption watchdog said the Commission's report on alleged irregularities has been submitted to the CBI for further probe. "The CVC had conducted an inquiry into allegations of corruption in the allocation of 2G spectrum and the report was finalised in September, 2009 indicating several improprieties committed in the process of allocation of 2G licenses and the case was handed over to the CBI for further investigations, which are now going on," Kumar said.

"We are not conducting any investigation into the allocation of 3G," the CVC said.

On the probe in Commonwealth Games related projects, Kumar said the Commission found several irregularities worth over Rs 3,300 crore. "The Commission has handed over five works to the CBI for investigation and advised disciplinary action against six officials. In one work, direct inquiry is being conducted by the CVC.

"In these cases our major observations have been that undue benefit was accorded to the contractor in selection and award of contracts, use of inferior quality material resulted in monetary advantage to the contractors, collusion among bidders and procurement of material at highly inflated costs," Kumar said.

He put emphasis on simplification of rules and procedures governing delivery of public service to make them citizen- friendly. Expressing concern over the procedure adopted by the government for public procurement, the CVC stressed "the need for creation of a single nodal authority to handle public procurement policy and formulation of a False Claim Act through which companies or contractors who cause loss to the government by fraud and corruption could be punished and the money recovered."
He said, "The government is working to give effect to these proposals."

Kumar also sought adequate manpower and resources in the probity watchdog. "The volume of work in the Commission has been increasing and the existing manpower is proving to be inadequate. As the Act does not give staffing powers to the Commission we have requested the government to provide the necessary staff," the CVC said.

"To make the work of vigilance more objective and efficient the Commission is developing standards for the conduct of vigilance investigation and reporting," he said.