AAP demands vigilance officers in every department

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: Brijesh Kalappa, President of the State Communication Department, Aam Aadmi Party, Karnataka Unit, said on Monday that the government should establish vigilant officers in every department.

Addressing the media, he said, "The fact that an ordinary tahsildar committed corruption of more than Rs 1,500 crore as indicated by recent Lokayukta raids shows that corruption is widespread in the state government. People of the State are questioning whether the government has turned a blind eye for so many years”.

His comments came days after the Lokayukta raided corrupt officers in the State, and at the beginning of the State’s budget session.

However, he also pointed out that in the previous tenure of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s government in 2016, in September, an order was made to appoint vigilant officers in every department and asked why even after two months of coming to power the CM has not appointed vigilant officers in all departments.

Taking a jibe at the CM, Brijesh Kalappa said if the CM was aware of the widespread corruption in the government's revenue, irrigation, PWD, forest department and other important departments, and he remains silent about it, then the people of the State will know that the CM is procorruption.

Further, he warned that the AAP would stage a protest if the CM fails to appoint vigilant officers in every department.