Mumbai
Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis inaugurated an app on Wednesday on which you can lodge complaints and upload photos, videos and recordings of government officials who are demanding or taking bribe from you for any work. Your identity will be kept a secret.
Updated : Mar 16, 2015, 03:11 PM IST
Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis inaugurated an app on Wednesday on which you can lodge complaints and upload photos, videos and recordings of government officials who are demanding or taking bribe from you for any work. Your identity will be kept a secret.
The app will be handled by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) with help from the Bombay Coding Company. Fadnavis said Maharashtra is the first state to start such an app.
"We want to punish corrupt officials, and this app will help us increase the conviction rate. Once officials realise that they can be punished easily for corruption, it will deter them from committing such crimes and abusing their power. By using technology, we want to bring in transparency into the system. People have lost faith in the government. We want to bring that back," Fadnavis said.
Developed by the Bombay Coding Company, the app can be downloaded from ACB's website and is accessible to anyone having a smart phone, tablet, desktop or laptop with an Internet connection, said ACB DG Pravin Dixit, adding that the app verifies the mobile number of the complainant using OTP code to prevent filing of frivolous complaints. It is available in both Marathi and English.
"Once people forward us a recording or photos of officers asking and demanding bribe, the bureau will verify the authenticity of the person. Once the verification is done, we will contact the complainant and take the next step to trap the errant official," Dixit said.
"Most times, complainants frequently change their statement due to pressure or because they have arrived at a settlement with the other person. Now, because of the submitted video evidence, they won't be able to change their statement. It will help us raise the conviction rate."
Dixit also said, "The project has received tremendous support from Public Concern for Governance Trust, an NGO that strives for good, efficient and transparent governance."
In 2014, ACB has arrested 1,600 corrupt public officials and their mediators. Dixit said they had earlier tried all traditional methods to reach out to a maximum number of people. "But those methods had some limitation. But with this it's different as almost everyone of us is connected to Internet somehow or the other. The app is very user-friendly. We appeal to the public to use it and help the government nab corrupt officials," he added.