By: Sameer Lone
Srinagar: After shopkeepers, the government is set to make installation of CCTV cameras in public offices mandatory, in a bid to strengthen internal vigilance and keep a check on corruption.
The government has recently made it mandatory for all the shopkeepers, small or big, to install CCTV cameras in their shops.
Now, the LG led administration is set to tighten noose around corrupt elements and public offices prone to corruption. “The corruption prone sectors of the government will come under 24*7 CCTV surveillance. CCTVs will be installed in all offices having a large public interface,” official sources told the Precious Kashmir.
Similarly, the traffic police beats and checkpoints at fixed locations will also come under CCTV surveillance.
It may be also noted that the CCTV footage be preserved for a minimum six months period, which should be periodically examined by the senior-most officers.
Some of the departments, according to a government report, reads the offices of Tehsildars, Naib-Tehsildars, Patwar Khanas, hospital ticket counters and outside labour rooms, RTO/ARTO offices, treasury/sub-treasury, BDO offices, Toll Posts upto 500 meters on either side of the post, clerical halls of offices, police stations will be put under CCTV in the first phase.
The traffic police check points should operate only at identified fixed locations on Highways and main roads and should come under proper CCTV surveillance.
It may be mentioned that Traffic police often face allegations of corruption and other such practices while streamlining traffic and imposing fines on the violators.
Two vital departments, Rural Development (RDD) and Education Department, which have remained in the news for all the wrong reasons like NREGA embezzlements and Mid-Day Meal Scheme in the Education department.
To stop malpractices in these two departments, the government is mulling to make mandatory for the RDD to upload videography and photographs of all the works executed indicating location, cost, year of execution on the departmental websites.
Similarly, the Education department has to get the records prepared to monitor the Mid-Day Meal Scheme on a daily-basis and get the annual audit of schools done to detect and avoid financial irregularities.