Disclosing this, VB Chief Director-cum-ADGP BK Uppal said the VB has taken the bold initiative to attach the ill-gotten properties of the accused during the period in four different cases.
[File Photo]
To weed out corruption, the Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB) has started a new initiative to attach the properties of offenders under which properties to the tune of Rs 101 crore were attached during the year 2019.
Disclosing this, VB Chief Director-cum-ADGP BK Uppal said the VB has taken the bold initiative to attach the ill-gotten properties of the accused during the period in four different cases.
“To corner the bribe seekers and to generate awareness among the public with a resolute stand to curb this social malady the bureau has launched multi-pronged approach,” he added.
Advertisement
In order to check corruption in engineering and development projects, he said the Bureau has launched a ‘Social Audit Scheme’ to reveal detailed information of the projects to the public.
Under this scheme, ‘Citizen Information Boards’ would be installed by the Chief Vigilance Officers of the respective departments under which information about the projects will be written in English and Punjabi thereby people could also make their contribution in curbing malpractices.
Giving more details, Uppal informed that VB has been able to nab 147 officials of different departments and 18 private persons while accepting bribes in 129 trap cases during last year.
Adopting a zero-tolerance policy towards all forms of corruption, the Bureau had nabbed 13 gazetted officers (GOs) and 134 non-gazetted officials (NGOs) from January 1 to 31 December 2019, Uppal said.
The VB chief revealed that during the year, apart from other departments, 63 personnel of Punjab Police, 28 of revenue department, 13 of power, three of panchayats and rural development, seven of health department, six of local bodies and 3 of food and civil supply department, 4 of excise and taxation and 5 of water supply and sanitation were nabbed red-handed while demanding and accepting bribes in different cases. Uppal said various special courts have sentenced 42 accused in 29 cases under the prevention of corruption Act.
Advertisement
