Hyderabad, June 07: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy today assured the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) there would be no political interference in its efforts to curb corruption, which has become a bane of the society.
”I am giving you a free hand to deal firmly with corrupt officials. Dont spare anyone, however influential and mighty they might be. ”You continue with your good work,” the Chief Minister told ACB Director General and other top officials of the department at a review meeting here, according to an official release Stating corruption by a few individuals was tarnishing the image of the State Government, Dr Reddy said he was very much disturbed by reports of high corruption in some quarters.
”Our government has taken up several welfare and developmental programmes. While I can proudly say that our official machinery is, by and large, efficient, energetic and service-oriented, a few officials indulging in corrupt practices have spoiled the good work done by the government to an extent, giving scope to the Opposition parties making politically-motivated and baseless allegations about large-scale corruption,” he said.
The Chief Minister said he had commissioned a survey by an independent agency on corruption in some key sectors. He had ordered further inquiry into the report submitted by the agency. Once it was confirmed, the report would be handed over to the ACB for further action.
The Chief Minister complimented the ACB officials for the laying traps, raids and booking cases even during elections.
He recalled Andhra Pradesh was declared as one of the States with least corruption by the world-famous ” Transparency International.” The ACB Director General told the Chief Minister the number of traps and disproportionate asset cases booked had registered a significant increase during 2004-08 compared to 1995-99 and 2000-04.
—–Agencies