Vigilance awareness week: Integrity Pledge held across Kashmir
Srinagar: As part of Observance of Vigilance Awareness Week from October 26 to November 1, the Pledge taking ceremony was held across all the districts of Kashmir.
On the occasion, the respective District Development Commissioners administered an integrity pledge to all officers and officials of the district.
Observance of Vigilance Awareness Week every year is taken up during the last week of October to encourage all stakeholders to collectively participate in the prevention of, and the fight against corruption and to raise public awareness regarding the existence, causes and gravity of and the threat posed by corruption.
At Ganderbal: The Integrity pledge taking ceremony was observed at the Conference Hall of Mini Secretariat Ganderbal here today.
The Integrity Pledge was administered by the District Vigilance Officer (ADC), Farooq Ahmad Baba among the officers/officials of district administration.
During the Pledge participants believed that corruption has been one of the major obstacles to economic, political and social progress of our country and believed that all stakeholders such as Government, citizens and private sector need to work together to eradicate corruption.
They acknowledged that their responsibility to lead by example and the need to put in place safeguards, integrity frameworks and code of ethics to ensure that they are not part of any corrupt practice and tackle instances of corruption with utmost strictness.
All the participants pledged to work together to eradicate corruption and oppose all forms of corruption and foster a culture of honesty and integrity. They also pledged to act in public interest and protect rights and interests of stakeholders and the society at large.
Additional District Development Commissioner Ganderbal and ASP Ganderbal also participated in the pledge taking ceremony.
At Anantnag: Observing vigilance awareness week from 26 to 1st Nov, an integrity pledge was today administered to all employees at DC office Anantnag.
The officers and officials of the district administration took pledge against corruption which is a major obstacle to economic and social progress of the country. The officers pledged their commitment to highest standards of honesty, integrity and pledged support in the fight against corruption. The pledge was administered by Additional Deputy Commissioner Anantnag Gh Hassan Sheikh.
A similar ceremony was held in all public offices throughout the district.
At Kupwara: The Pledge taking ceremony was held in the meeting hall of district Administrative Complex, Kupwara. All District and Sectoral Officers of administration participated in the pledge ceremony.
The Deputy Commissioner Kupwara, Imam Din administered integrity pledged to all District/Sectoral Officers and stressed upon them to strictly adhere to the rules and regulation of vigilance department.
He directed the concerned officers to sensitize the employees and public about ill effects of corruption to all stakeholders of society through workshops and dissemination of information on ground level and added that the basic concept of employment is to provide justified corruption free quality services and good governance to the common masses.
He said the focus areas of the celebration is to bring greater awareness of complaints under Public Interest Disclosure and Protection of Informers and conduct a special clearance campaign for clearing all outstanding vigilance matters.
The Deputy Commissioner exhorted upon employees and other stakeholders to make themselves aware of all kinds of corruption and ensure that no one should fall prey to corruption, adding that corruption is also banned in all religious teachings.
The DC also directed officers to organise awareness camps and disseminate information regarding Observance of Vigilance week.
Joint Director Planning, Abdul Majeed, Assistant Commissioner Development, Mehraj-u-Din, District Information Officer Kupwara, Mohammad Yousuf Mir and other officers and officials attended the pledge ceremony.
Pledge taking ceremonies were also held at sub division Handwara, Karnah and Sogam, besides, other Government offices.
At Kulgam: The Integrity pledge taking ceremony was observed at the Mini Secretariat Kulgam here.
On the occasion, the Integrity Pledge was administered by the Deputy Commissioner, Dr.Bilal Mohi-Ud-Din Bhat in presence of District Vigilance Officer (ADC), Showkat Ahmad Rather among the district officers, officials.
During the pledge all participants believed that corruption has been one of the major obstacles to economic, political and social progress of our country and believed that all stakeholders such as the Government, citizens and private sector need to work together to eradicate corruption.
They acknowledged that their responsibility to lead by example and the need to put in place safeguards, integrity frameworks and code of ethics to ensure that they are not part of any corrupt practice and tackle instances of corruption with utmost strictness.
All the participants pledged to work together to eradicate corruption and oppose all forms of corruption and foster a culture of honesty and integrity. They also pledged to act in public interest and protect rights and interests of stakeholders and the society at large.
Meanwhile, an awareness programme was held and presided over by the Deputy Commissioner.
The DC reiterated that at every level we have to ensure zero tolerance against corruption.
On the occasion, DVO highlighted the importance of such awareness programmes and added that the need of the hour is to work together to eradicate corruption and oppose all forms of corruption.
The Integrity Pledge taking ceremony was also observed in other offices of the district.
At Bandipora: The Additional District Development Commissioner (ADDC) Bandipora, Ali Afsar Khan on Wednesday administered oath to the officers and officials of the district pledging to fight corruption.
Additional Deputy Commissioner Bandipora, Zahoor Ahmad Mir, Assistant Commissioner Revenue Parvaiz Rahim, Assistant Commissioner Development Abdul Rashid Dass, Assistant Director Food Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Bilal Ahmad and district officers of various departments along with the officials were present on the occasion.
The officers pledged to work together to eradicate corruption and oppose all forms of corruption and promised to work with zeal in maintaining highest standards of integrity, transparency and good governance in all respects of their operations. “We shall not offer or accept bribes and foster a culture of honesty and integrity,” they pledged.
ADDC while administering oath to officials said that corruption has been one of the major obstacles to economic, political and social progress of our country. He stressed on officers to work together to eradicate corruption. He felt the need to put in place safeguards, integrity frameworks and code of ethics to ensure that we are not part of any corrupt practice and we tackle instances of corruption with utmost strictness.
He stressed on officials promoting ethical business practices and fostering a culture of honesty and integrity.
The audience of officers and officials pledged not to offer or accept bribes, commit to good corporate governance based on transparency, accountability and fairness, adhere to relevant laws, rules and compliance mechanisms in the conduct of business, adopt a code of ethics for all our employees, sensitize employees of laws, regulations, etc relevant to their work for honest discharge of their duties, provide grievance redressal and Whistle Blower mechanism for reporting grievances and fraudulent activities and shall protect the rights and interests of stakeholders and the society at large.
Similar functions were held across the district at Sub Division level. SDM Sumbal administered oath to the officers at Dak Bunglow while SDM Gurez administered oath to the officers at Dawar. Senior Superintendent of Police Mohammad Zahid also administered oath to officers of DPL Bandipora while respective Station House officers administered oath to the subordinates at their respective police stations.
