In six months, the government has cleared the files and given its sanction to the ACB for cases that were stuck in red tape since 2007
With cases of corruption piling up against ministers and bureaucrats by the dozen, the government has for the first time cleared 39 files in a record time of six months.
According to officials from the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), this is the first time in the history of the state that such a large cache of files has been cleared.
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“The speed at which files are being cleared by the state government is remarkable,” said Additional Commissioner of police SB Suryavanshi.
Pic for representation
In the month of September, MiD DAY had reported on how the state home department had sought details from the ACB on files of graft cases that needed the government’s approval. Following that, from June till October 31, the government has given its approval for 39 files that were stuck since 2007 owing to red tapism.
As per the records that were submitted before the Nagpur assembly, till May this year 70 files awaited the government’s sanction. Of these, 39 files have been cleared. However, 25 fresh cases have been added this year, taking the total number of pending cases to 59.
Until now, ACB officials were forced to run from pillar to post to get government sanctions for these cases but their pleas fell on deaf ears. Tired of repeatedly getting entangled in red tape, before leaving the post on July 31 this year, the then director general of ACB, Sanjeev Dayal, exposed the government by uploading the minutest details of cases awaiting approval on the bureau’s website, https://acbmaharashtra.gov.in. Officials at ACB have since been regularly updating records on the portal.
ACB officials revealed that one more reason for uploading such valuable data on the official website is the constant influx of RTI queries from across the state.
“There are people who have been seeking information under the Right to Information (RTI) Act and this is an unnecessary burden on us,” said an ACB official.u00a0
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