Tamil Nadu staff face 3 times more graft cases in 1 year

CHENNAI: The Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption from April 2017 to March 2018, its first full financial year under CM Edappadi K Palaniswami, registered the maximum number of First Information Reports (FIRs) in a decade, statistics released on Tuesday show.
With 103 convictions in 2017-18, the highest in the last 10 years, the number of corruption cases proved too have jumped 25% this year compared to last year.The DVAC head during this period, M N Manjunath, was transferred out on April18.
Tasked with investigating corruption complaints against employees of the Tamil Nadu government, the agency’s investigations are sub-divided into preliminary inquiries, detailed inquiries, regular cases and traps. The agency also conducts surprise checks at government offices where cash dealings happen daily.

The number of regular cases booked in 2017-18 was 189, more than double the figure in 2016-17, with the highest until then being the 169 cases registered in 2009-10. The corresponding numbers during the term of former chief minister J Jayalalithaa range from 66 to
125. The number of regular cases, preliminary inquiries and detailed inquiries against All India Service Officers (AISO), including IPS, IAS and IFS officers, rose to 7 from 2 last year.
The agency in 2017-18 registered FIRs against 680 people, more than three times the number recorded in the previous year. Departments like police, forests and local bodies, against which the DVAC had hitherto gone slow, came under its scanner in 2017-18 and the agency busted two major scams in the government’s tree plantings schemes after April 2018.
For instance, 32 police personnel were booked for corruption in 2017-18 against the average of 17 to 18 in previous years. For the first time in three years, the agency, whose investigators are drawn from the police department, laid ‘traps’ against police personnel.
120 anti-graft cases against transport dept staff
The situation in other departments was similar. 60 officials working in local bodies, against whom residents raised a number of complaints of collusion and tender rigging, were booked in 2017-18, a figure that is at least three times the yearly average for a decade, statistics show. More than 120 transport department officials and 26 education department staff were booked for corruption. In March, DVAC booked former Anna University VC M Rajaram and law university VC P Vanangamudi for allegedly taking bribes for appointing professors and enrolling foreign students.
Statistics show the agency did not file a single case in 2017-18 against the state highways department, which is directly under chief minister Palaniswamy. Others like Tasmac, public works department, industries, housing and the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board were similarly blemishless in 17-18. In the current financial year, the agency has started attacking corruption in Tasmac outlets, officials said.
Jayaram Venkatesan, convenor of Arappor Iyakkam, an NGO, said, “The officials at the helm responded well. But they have been moved out now,” he said. Because of the transfers and the amendment to Prevention of Corruption Act, which bars anti-corruption agencies from registering cases without the government’s prior approval, there will be a drop in 2018-19, Jayaram said. As on April 1, 2018, 4,341government employees were facing departmental enquiries, 1536 cases were pending, while 2,969 people were facing trial.
A perusal of the cases booked shows that quite a few pertained to complaints received 3-4 years ago. This, sources in the agency say, indicated a shift from just initiating inquiries to registering cases. This is visible in the statistics as well, with the number of preliminary inquiries and detailed inquiries going down by 91and 20.