Karimnagar: It was neither a date of release of their favourite hero, nor arrival of a popular public representative or an auspicious occasion to celebrate. But, residents of Gunded village of Kamalapur mandal erupted into joy. They burst crackers and distributed sweets among themselves on September 15. The reason: their VRO G. Ramesh Babu was arrested by ACB sleuths while accepting Rs 13,000 from a PhD student for correcting an error in land documents belonging to his father.
Apsar Pasha, a Village Revenue Assistant (VRA) of Rajeshwaraopet village from Ibrahimpatnam, had been going from pillar to post since 15 years, seeking appointment order of job given to him on the compassionate grounds. His father died while serving as VRA of the village. To his delight, his superior and tahsildar of Ibrahimpatnam, M. Shankariah, agreed to correct the error, but only if he gave Rs 50,000. He approached ACB officials, who laid a trap and caught the tahsildar and his associate, K. Ramesh, VRO of Vemulakurthi, when collecting the bribe from him on September 14.
These two instances illustrate the heights of corruption among officials of the revenue department. Ironically, the second one tries to indicate that these officials don’t spare employees of their department. Incidentally, the department continues to remain in the top position when it comes to ACB traps registered in district in the past three years. Seems, enhancement of salaries not deterred to curb corruption among public servants of many departments.
According to information provided by sleuths of ACB, eight employees of revenue department were held when accepting on bribe from farmers from January to September of 2015, as against 13 and 18 in 2014 and 2013, respectively.
This department has figured in the top slot followed by electricity department whose three officials were held on the charges of graft.
