Punjab Assembly passes Bill to empower Vigilance Commission
Darpan News Desk IANS, 30 Sep, 2022 10:14 AM
Chandigarh, Sep 30 (IANS) Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Friday moved the Punjab State Vigilance Commission (Repeal) Bill, 2022, that was passed unanimously.
Moving a resolution to this regard, Mann said that the main function of the Punjab State Vigilance Commission is to enquire or cause enquires into complaints alleging commission of offences by a public servant under the Prevention of Corruption Act 1988, Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018.
He said the commission is also empowered to exercise superintendence and control over the functioning of the Vigilance Bureau and police establishment in so far it relates to corruption cases
Mann said the Punjab State Vigilance Commission Act 2020, which was supposed to be enacted on the lines of the Central Vigilance Commission Act 2003, suffers from serious deviations.
The Chief Minister said the Vigilance Commission constituted under this Act is, therefore, not serving any useful objectives except being a burden on the state exchequer.
He said as there are multiple agencies in the state to deal with same set stakeholders, including full-fledged Vigilance Department.
Therefore, Mann said to avoid overlapping, contradictory findings, resultant delays and gaps in communication, it has become necessary to repeal the Punjab State Vigilance Commission Act 2020.
Farmers union members are also expected to meet local authorities seeking a speedy trial in the case. Farmer leaders claim that MoS for Home Ajay Mishra Teni continues to remain in office despite past assurances from government of looking into the matter.
In a video message, Mann said the recruitment for 26,454 vacancies in 25 different departments would be accomplished in a corruption-free and impartial manner.
The arrested accused were identified as Gurpreet Singh, Amandeep Singh and Parminder Singh, residents of Vinjoke village in Zira, Ferozepur; and Bhupinder Singh of Bhatian village in Ludhiana.
Modi flew to Paris from Copenhagen, where he participated in the second India-Nordic Summit along with his counterparts Mette Frederiksen (Denmark), Katrin Jakobsdottir (Iceland), Jonas Gahr Store (Norway), Magdalena Andersson (Sweden) and Sanna Marin (Finland).
State Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Minister Lal Chand Kataruchak said the five-member team of Sandro Banal, Filippo Zunino, Stephanie Heard, Amit Wadhera and Shruti will be visiting Amritsar to take a first-hand assessment of how long term storage of wheat is undertaken in Punjab, without deterioration in its quality.
Apprising Mann about the India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (IndAus ECTA), O'Farrell said it is the India's first bilateral trade agreement with a large, developed economy in 10 years, which aims to double two-way trade.
