Author: Mohit Kandhari
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: January 29, 2010
URL: http://www.dailypioneer.com/232248/Omar%E2%80%99s-angst-over-JK-corruption.html
For the first time in the past year, Jammu
& Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has made a candid confession that
the coalition Government headed by him has failed to tackle the 'menace of
corruption.'
Abdullah added, "I don't want to feel
ashamed and shield anyone at any level by way of extending political patronage
in our fight against corruption."
Abdullah was addressing a State-level conference
of vigilance officers in Jammu. Two senior officers - Anantnag DC Sheikh Mushtaq
Ahmad and senior J&K Bank executive Muzaffar Ahmad Maqhdoomi - were rewarded
with the Chief Minister's Vigilance Awards for checking corruption.
The CM said, "At present, we are considered
the second-most corrupt State but my fear is that if we do not wake up to
reality and stop looking for excuses, we will climb the ladder and come on
top."
Addressing vigilance officers, Abdullah said,
"My Government is considering upgrading the vigilance department to the
level of a full-fledged commission to deal with the menace of corruption in
the State."
"We are studying the proposal and looking
into various aspects before the legal framework," he added. The State
Accountability Comm-ission, set up by Mufti Mohd Sayeed to check rampant corruption,
is a toothless body which has become victim of Government apathy.
Abdullah said his Government had attempted
to bring Central Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah to the State
to head the Information Commission, with a mandate to build confidence in
the common man and arm him/her with the Right to Information Act.
"I am still hopeful that the Centre would
soon relieve Habibullah to take up his job here in the State and until then
we will manage our work by putting an acting chairman of the State Information
Commission at the helm," Abdullah added.
"If after bringing Rs 5,500 crore to
the State for carrying out development work, we end up earning the tag of
number 1 corrupt State, I want to make it clear to all that this is simply
not acceptable to me," he added.
