ACC asks govt agencies to 'organise' wealth info of 1.2m public servants

The Anti-corruption Commission (ACC) has asked all concerned government bodies, organisations and departments to organise the wealth statements, submitted by about 1.2 million (12 lakh) government officials and employees, for follow-up actions as part of the anti-graft drive, report agencies.brDirector General (Administration) of the ACC, Col Hanif Iqbal told this to the newsmen at a regular weekly briefing at the ACC office Monday.brThe ACC, he said, has sought advice from the Cabinet Division as to how to deal with the wealth statements submitted by all government officials and employees earlier in accordance with their service rules.brThe provision for submission of such wealth statements for all public officials was there since long but there was laxity in its enforcement. The government ensured it this year that all public employees and officials submit their wealth statements.brIn response to a query about wealth statements by government officials and employees at the press briefing on Monday, the ACC Director General (DG) said that the anti-graft watchdog has sought advice from the Cabinet Division as to how dispose of those statements.brSince it would be a time-consuming matter for the ACC to deal with the statements, the ways for involving all concerned departments are being considered for the purpose, he added.brIt is yet to be finalised as to how to involve the relevant departments, he said, adding that the ACC is maintaining communication with the government in this regard.brFurthermore, he said the ACC intends to start exchange of views with the chiefs and high-ups of different ministries and departments next month to combat institutional corruption under the ongoing anti-graft drive.brTo begin with, the Commission would like to exchange views with the hierarchies of four ministries, Col Hanif Iqbal told the journalists.brThe anti-graft watchdog wants to sit with the Land Ministry in the second week of October and the Health Ministry in the third week and it will hold discussions with the Communications Ministry in the second week of November and the Local Government Division in the third week of that month.brAlready, the Commission has written to the Cabinet secretary for providing guidelines to the ministries as to how they should act under this drive.brHanif said the objectives of the proposed exchanges of views are not to deal matters connected with individual corruption or taking actions against individuals. The main objective will be to identify the areas and sources of corruption.brHe observed that without direct participation of government officials the campaign for rooting out institutional corruption would not be successful.brHe said the need for involving the senior officials was felt because they know how corruption takes place in respective departments and which legal and structural weaknesses induce one to indulge in corruption.brHe said that during the proposed meetings emphasis could be given on issues like how officials get involved, officers from which level get involved and what is the process to be the beneficiary of graft.brSuch meetings are likely to take place in the respective departments and all be attended by officials above senior assistant secretary, he said.brThe ACC director general said the Commission has decided to suspend inquiries and investigations against those whose cases have been referred to the Truth and Accountability Commission (Tac) considering their applications for clemency.brThe suspension of inquiries and investigations will be in place until Tac reaches decisions about them, he added.brThe ACC spokesperson said the Commission sent a list of seven individuals to Tac on Sunday and another five persons have applied for referring their names to the Tac.brAbout the ACC annual report that was presented by the Commission to the President last Sunday, he said the report would be put into the public domain later.br