Please give us some work: Maharashtra Lok Ayukta

If you think that only the common man is waiting for the Lokpal Bill, then think again. Even our powerless Lok Ayukta officials are awaiting it. The reason? They aspire for better job satisfaction.
In the last three annual reports, Lok Ayukta had asked the government to give them substantial work.

“But our capacities and capabilities have been overlooked. We are retired judges and capable of doing better, but are reduced to doing meaningless work,” says an official.

Another official points out, “If you go through the records (they get around 12,000 cases a year), it looks like we have plenty of work at hand. But the cases are small. The government hasn’t referred a single case to us, big or small. We could have investigated the Adarsh scam, Meval firing and Ramabai Colony firing or any other such case which comes up every now and then. Why is an inquiry commission set up without bringing us into the picture?”

The 2008 annual report says, “Amendment in Lok Ayukta act is necessary so as to include retired or past government servants/ministers/ secretaries also.”

An old employee in the Lok Ayukta office said: “The office has lost its sheen. Nand Kumar Jantre, who was appointed General Administration Department head a couple of months ago as, is yet to meet our top officials. This is despite the fact that Jantre’s office is just opposite the Lokayukta office. On the other hand, around 15 years ago, then chief minister Manohar Joshi would come down often to chat with our head.”