Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal re-launches anti-corruption helpline 1031

Delhi govt to give protection to callers on 1031 against corrupt officials

PTI 4/8/2015 9:21:28 AM

NEW DELHI, APRIL 08 : Assuring that the identity of a caller who registers a complaint with the newly launched anti- corruption helpline will remain secret, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today said the government will also give protection to the complainant against corrupt official.  "I will ensure that this helpline will keep identity of the complainant a secret. But still during the investigation, one gets to know who has done it. I will ensure protection is given to the complainant. I ask people to have courage and come to us in the fight against corruption," Kejriwal said while speaking at the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) National Conference and Annual Session.  Kejriwal said this helpline has made a deterrence impact.  "Our aim is not to send 1,000 people to jail but to create an environment that if anyone is caught in corruption case then he will not be spared," Kejriwal said.  The chief minister endorsed making sting videos saying, "If one has not done anything wrong then why fear any sting operation?" Kejriwal said.  Kejriwal claimed that during the AAP government's last term, corruption came down by 50-60 per cent.  "We started working when no work was done without paying bribes. During our last term of 49 days, corruption cases came down to 50-60 per cent. Corrupt officers came up with new ways, many banned mobile phones inside their offices. But now we have asked all the officers to allow phones in their cabins and offices. We are trying to change the environment and create a habit of working honestly," he said.  Meanwhile, Delhi government claims that the anti-graft helpline-1031 has answered over 20,000 calls within 48 hours of its relaunch.  "The figures available till 5 PM on Tuesday show a total number of 20,656 calls were answered by the helpline. Out of these, 29 complaints have been marked to the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) for investigation and necessary further action following scrutiny by trained and authorised facilitators," a senior officer said.  According to the statistics, of the 80 complaints marked to the facilitators so far by the helpline, 25 were not found to be fit to be referred to the ACB, 16 are pending for scrutiny with the facilitators, 10 are being followed up and 29 have been referred to the ACB for probe and further action.  The helpline is functioning on a 24x7 basis and will remain open all 365 days of the year. The calls received so far are now being analysed to segregate frivolous and real calls.  The government claims efforts are being made to ensure that no call made on 1031 number remains unanswered.