CVC, IIM-A to develop integrity index for central organisations

The Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) will develop an Integrity Index for government establishments with the help of IIM-Ahmedabad (IIM-A) in line with the broader strategy and emphasis on preventive vigilance.

The IIM-A will follow a research-based approach for creating the index.

At the outset, it has selected 25 organisations from various sectors for the exercise as it believes that the next level of systemic change can be through the tool of Integrity Index.

Subsequently, it is proposed to extend the concept to all other CPSUs and organisations of the Centre.

The institutions include Steel Authority of India, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, National Thermal Power Corporation, Syndicate Bank, Central Board of Direct Tax, Mumbai Port Trust, Ministry of Railways, Competition Commission of India and Mahanagar Telecom Nigam Ltd.

"The CVC has decided to go in for development of the Integrity Index-based on benchmarking of internal processes and controls within an organisation as well as management of relationships and expectations of outside stakeholders," an official statement said.

The Integrity Index will bring out annual rankings of public sector undertakings, public sector banks and financial institutions as well as departments and ministries of the central government by linking the essential drivers of vigilance with long-term efficiency, profitability and sustainability.

This is aimed at creating an internal and external ecosystem that promotes working with integrity in public organisations, the statement said.

The index would be developed on the basis of defining what constitutes integrity of public organisations, identifying different factors of integrity and their inter-linkages and creating an objective and reliable tool that can measure the performance of organisations.

It will also keep in mind to validate the findings over a period of time to improve the robustness of the tool and create an internal and external ecosystem that promotes working with integrity where public organisations lead the way.