Keep clear intentions to avoid scrutiny, CVC advice govt employees

Government employees engaged in procurement-related jobs should keep their intentions clear while dealing with public money so as to avoid the scrutiny of CAG, CBI and CVC, Vigilance Commissioner R Sri Kumar said on Friday.

"As long as you are proving public interest, you are safe from all three Cs (CAG, CVC and CBI). We, in Central Vigilance Commission, keep advocating that keep public interest in mind always. Never yield to private greed. We have been saying that intentions need to be clear. It needs to be good," he said during a summit here.

The Vigilance Commissioner said government departments can also seek CVC's advice in case of doubt while dealing with public procurement related work.

"There is a provision in Central Vigilance Commission Act 2003. If during the procurement process you feel that you need help, you write to CVC and our people are there to help you. So, if three Cs (CAG, CBI and CVC) come to you, you can say that you have taken CVC's advice," he said.

"If you are dealing with public money, you need to be doubly careful that the onus is on you. You need to be accountable," the Vigilance Commissioner said.

Kumar was speaking during the eight public procurement summit organised by industry body Assocham here.

He also suggested putting in place a whistleblower mechanism by government departments for complaints so that any grievances can be dealt between the private party (involved in procurement process) and them.

Kumar also suggested people follow integrity pact, promoted by NGO Transparency International, to avoid corruption.

The pact (IP) is signed between a prospective bidder and a buyer for a procurement and other works, committing the persons or officials of both sides not to resort to any corrupt practices at any stage of the contract.

There is also a provision for appointment of third party Independent External Monitors (IEMs) under the pact to oversee the procurement process so that there is no chance of any irregularity.

The VC also asked people to take use of Vig-Eye (an acronym for vigilance eye), a system which allows a complainants to upload videos, audios and lodge complaints exposing acts of corruption by government officials.

An individual can visit CVC's portal --www.vigeye.com-- for lodging complaints and get details of its mobile application.