SRINAGAR, OCT 7: The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), Jammu and Kashmir, convened a Departmental Vigilance Officers (DVOs) Conference at its headquarters in Peerbagh, Srinagar, bringing together 51 vigilance officers from Kashmir-based departments for a comprehensive review of departmental enquiries and mechanisms to detect misconduct among public servants.
The conference was chaired by Shakti Pathak, Director, ACB J&K, in the presence of senior officers of the Bureau. During the conference, the Director reviewed matters pending with the DVOs and directed them to accord priority to old and long-pending cases so that enquiries are completed and reports submitted without avoidable delay.
Emphasising the importance of departmental vigilance in strengthening administrative accountability, the Director stressed that complaints indicating possible misconduct by public servants must be subjected to proper and objective enquiry. He called upon DVOs to ensure that their enquiry reports clearly establish the facts and specifically bring out whether an element of misconduct is made out against the public servant concerned.
The DVOs were also advised to maintain heightened vigilance within their respective districts and departments and promptly bring to the notice of the ACB any malpractice or irregularity coming to their attention that may warrant further action.
As part of the professional capacity-building exercise, a detailed presentation on the roadmap for conducting DVO enquiries was delivered during the conference. Relevant reading material and professional inputs were also provided to the participating officers to facilitate a more structured, consistent and effective approach to departmental vigilance investigations.
The conference underlined the ACB’s focus on strengthening the preventive and supervisory vigilance framework, improving the quality and timeliness of departmental enquiries and ensuring that allegations of misconduct are examined through a systematic mechanism before appropriate action is considered.
