Annual reports of Vigilance Commission not placed in the Assembly
22 Sep, 2013In a reply to an application filed under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, the Forum for Good Governance has been informed by the Andhra Pradesh government that the annual reports of Vigilance Commission have not been placed before the State Assembly for the past 17 years.
The applicant had desired to know the period for which the annual reports of the A.P. Vigilance Commission had not been placed before the legislature by filing an application under the RTI Act. Like all other Vigilance Commission, that of the Andhra Pradesh was constituted to enquire into cases of corrupt practices, misconduct and lack of integrity in relation to any public servant. Wherever the Commission’s advice is not accepted by the government the same has to be a part of the annual report which has to be placed before the legislative assembly. The reasons for the non-acceptance have to be included as a part of the report.
Since 1996-97, the annual reports have not been placed before the legislature on the pretext that action taken reports (ATRs) were still awaited from the concerned departments. In 2012-13, over 2,800 cases were referred to the A.P. Vigilance Commission by government and the number of cases for the last 17 years is likely to exceed 40,000.
The Forum for Good Governance has appealed to the government to place the pending reports of the vigilance commission before the legislative Assembly. Just like the report of the A.P. Vigilance Commission, the state of affairs is likely to be similar in most other state commissions.