Tamil Nadu orders anti-bribery boards in all govt offices
Chennai, July 20 (IANS/WISHAVWARTA) The Tamil Nadu government has launched a fresh drive to strengthen transparency in public administration by directing all government departments, district administrations, local bodies, public sector undertakings (PSUs) and government-owned companies to prominently display anti-bribery notice boards carrying the message that both giving and accepting bribes are punishable offences.
The directive was issued through a Government Order signed by Chief Secretary M. Sai Kumar on July 14. It makes it mandatory for every government office to install bilingual notice boards in Tamil and English at locations that are clearly visible to the public.
The Vijay government has also instructed departments to publish the same anti-corruption message on their official websites along with a direct link to the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) portal.
The order noted that despite repeated government instructions issued since 2006, many offices had failed to comply fully with the requirement. In several cases, anti-corruption boards were either not installed or were placed in locations that were not easily visible to visitors.
The latest order seeks to ensure uniform implementation of the directive across all government establishments.
The notice boards will display the message, “Bribe giving and receiving is an offence,” besides providing the DVAC’s address, telephone numbers, WhatsApp number, fax number and official email ID.
The government hopes that easy access to these details will encourage members of the public to report incidents of corruption without difficulty. Departments have also been instructed to issue similar directions to all statutory boards, corporations, local bodies, government companies and public sector undertakings functioning under their administrative control.
Officials have been asked to ensure that the instructions are implemented without delay.
To monitor compliance, inspection wings of various departments and inspection cells under district collectorates have been directed to verify whether the boards have been installed in the prescribed manner and whether the government instructions have been fully implemented in every office.
The government has further directed department secretaries and heads of departments to submit compliance reports to the Human Resources Management Department after confirming that all offices under their jurisdiction have carried out the instructions.
The latest initiative comes just days after the state launched a dedicated DVAC WhatsApp helpline, 9498180936, to enable citizens to report corruption quickly and strengthen the government’s ongoing efforts to promote transparency and accountability in public administration.
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