MUMBAI, January 15: Social worker Anna Hazare's charges against officials of the state Irrigation department were vindicated today when Irrigation minister Eknath Khadse revealed the departmental action taken against some of the officials on charges of corruption.``Some of the officials, punished and facing an inquiry, did figure in the list given by Hazare,'' Khadse admitted. He submitted a list of 411 officials from the Irrigation department who faced departmental inquiry and subsequent punishment since 1995. Releasing the statistics at a press conference held at Mantralaya today, Khadse said though the number of corrupt officials was alarming, it did not mean the entire department was involved in corrupt practices.
Explaining the efforts being taken by the state government to eradicate corruption, Khadse said four divisions had been set up to conduct an inquiry into complaints. Complaints from one division are to be handed over to officers from another division to ensure the success of the
system.
``This provision is made as in most of the cases, the officer conducting an inquiry and the official facing corruption charges happened to be from same area and knew each other. Finally, the result of the inquiry was favourable for the accused. This will not happen in future,'' Khadse said.
Reacting to charges of corruption levelled at the Krishna Valley Irrigation Development Corporation (KVIDC) by senior Congress leader R R Patil, the minister said he was ready to face an inquiry by the CBI or the Anti-Corruption Bureau.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
