The new portal provides a user-friendly platform for citizens to complain about corrupt officials or disclose information on illegal activities - paper
NEW DELHI (TrustLaw) - India's anti-corruption watchdog has launched a website for the public to upload audio, video or photo evidence of corrupt practices to promote transparency after a spate of graft scandals, the Times of India reported on Friday.
The Central Vigilance Commission's (CVC) new portal, Project VigEye, provides a user-friendly platform for citizens to complain about corrupt officials or disclose information on illegal activities, the paper said.
"The advantage of VigEye is its simplified process of filing complaints," CVC head P.J. Thomas was quoted as saying at an event to mark Anti-Corruption Day on Dec 9.
Four major scandals have dominated the headlines in recent weeks, including a telecoms licence scandal which may have cost India a staggering $39 billion in lost revenue -- equivalent to the defence budget.
The state auditor says the telecoms ministry gave out lucrative licences and radio spectrum in 2007/08 at below-market prices. The telecoms minister Andimuthu Raja has subsequently been forced to resign and is currently being investigated.
Thomas -- who said the CVC wanted a more "preventive, proactive and predictive" mechanism for monitoring graft -- is himself facing questions over his own credentials.
India's supreme court has questioned Thomas' appointment and credibility as the head of the anti-corruption watchdog, given that he was the senior-most bureaucrat in the telecoms ministry when it was being investigated for the scam. Thomas also faces a graft charge from a separate case.
"On anti-corruption day ... there can be no bigger joke," the paper quoted an unnamed leader of the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party who was reacting to Thomas' speech.
Other graft scandals which have hit the headlines include bribes-for-loans banking scandal implicating state and private lenders, a housing scam in the western state of Maharashtra and allegations of corruption in the run-up to the Commonwealth games.
The scandals have embarrassed the ruling Congress party, stalled parliament, soured investor relations and shocked civil society activists.
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