Don’t Name And Shame Corrupt Officials, Say Maharashtra Govt Employees

The Maharashtra government has been presented with a bizarre demand by its employees’ organisation, which says that the identity of the officials caught red-handed while accepting bribes should be kept confidential until the case against them has been finally decided by the court of law. In a petition submitted by the organisation to chief minister Eknath Shinde, the reasoning behind the demand has been explained unreservedly. It says that government officials are under the scanner of the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) and caught often. After the action, their pictures and other information is provided by the ACB to the media. However, this needs to stop as the official is defamed even before judicial conviction, the organisation has complained. The petition has pointed out that in many cases, such officials are exonerated by courts. This has happened time and again. However, in the intervening period, the official and his or her family are subjected to infamy and social consequences. “Therefore, it is our demand that till the moment the official concerned is convicted by court, his or her picture or identity should not be disclosed,” the petition has stated. The most corrupt arm of the government is the revenue department Maharashtra; the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is the most corrupt civic body while Pune is the most corrupt district in the state, according to various findings.