Jammu:  Government Thursday said  providing permanent staff to the State Vigilance Commission was not “possible.”
“Creation of such a large component of staff (in SVC) on permanent basis is not possible,” Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said in a written reply to the question of CPI(M) member M Y Tarigami in the Legislative Assembly.
Tarigami claimed that delay in providing adequate staff to State Vigilance Commission (SVC) and State Accountability Commission (SAC) had been affecting the functioning of these newly-constituted anti-graft bodies, and asked the government about the reason behind the delay.
The Chief Minister further said in the reply that a proposal for creation of 82 more posts falling in different categories was received from the SVC, which was thoroughly examine by the government.
The creation of such a large component of staff on permanent basis is not possible and the commission accordingly was requested to expedite a fresh proposal in consonance with the government decision for further course of action, he said.
The Chief Minister said, “Some staff have already been provided to the SVC.”
The vigilance commission is monitoring and supervising thousands of complaints with regard to cases of corruption, and looking after the working of its investigating wing — State Vigilance Organisation (SVO).
Chief Vigilance Commissioner Kuldeep Khoda said that the government had provided only nine employees and eight peons to the commission.
He said that adequate staffers were being provided to SAC.
Lashing at the government for grounding these anti-graft bodies on their operational front due to scarcity of staff, Tarigami expressed dissatisfaction with the government’s reply and called for immediate strengthening of these bodies in order to weed-out the large-scale corruption in the state.
“How can these bodies do justice to the people on this front if they are not provided with adequate staff for their operation?” he asked.

KR Desk