Punjab officials told to check corruption or face action

To further tighten the noose around corruption, the Punjab government has directed deputy commissioners (DCs), sub divisional magistrates (SDMs), senior superintendents of police (SSPs) and station house officers (SHOs) to check corruption in their respective areas or face action.

Stating this in Chandigarh on Friday, a spokesman reiterated the commitment of the Punjab government to ensure transparency, accountability and integrity in public service delivery. In order to ensure corruption-free and citizen friendly governance, field officers have been told to take stringent steps.

“Every officer is duty bound to ensure that people do not face any kind of harassment or demand of financial considerations while interacting with the government officials at any level,” the government said in written instructions. It has directed that interaction of the public with the government at all levels should be hassle-free.

Likewise, it underlined that public work should be completed efficiently. In order to make officers responsive and accountable, feedback about each DC, SSP, SDM, tehsildar, naib tehsildar, SP, DSP, SHO and other field officials will be taken not only from the public but also from the MPs and MLAs concerned. The feedback will organically lead to rewards and punishments for the officers.