Bhopal, March 12 (Pervez Bari): Madhya Pradesh has become the first state in the country to have made it compulsory to make public immovable properties of government officials. So far, 2 lakh 88 thousand 924 government servants have made online declaration of their properties, an official release claimed.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has taken this initiative in order to bring about greater transparency in governance and avert the possibilities of corruption. The dispensation has come to effect from February 15, 2010. The process of declaration of properties through official websites of concerning departments continues this year, the release said.
Following the initiative, all government officials are submitting the details of the properties owned by them. The property details have been made available online for the public. Details are available on a click on their official websites of concerning departments.
Details of properties of IAS, IPS and IFS, State Administrative Services and State Police Service have been made public. So far, 279 officers of IAS, 205 of IPS, 267 of IFS, 645 of State Administrative Service, 487 of state police service, 696 of public prosecution officers are available online.
The initiative of compulsory declaration of properties by the government officials every year and making it public through official websites is being emulated by other states. Recently, Bihar State Government has implemented the same, the release added. (pervezbari@eth.net)