Kejriwal asks ministers to name corrupt officials; hints at bureaucracy clean-up

New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, on Saturday, discussed the issue of compulsory retirement of corrupt officials with Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal and later directed his cabinet ministers to prepare a list of such officials.

Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia accompanied Kejriwal to the meeting. Kejriwal also discussed this issue in detail with Delhi Chief Secretary Vijay Dev.

After the discussions, the chief minister directed all the cabinet ministers to prepare a list of such officials in their respective departments so that they can be made to retire compulsorily.

Baijal had earlier written to Dev, asking him to adopt a compulsory retirement policy for tainted officials.

The move is in line with the central government’s initiative to retire such officials in a bid to weed out corruption from bureaucracy.

Kejriwal said his government has a zero tolerance policy against corruption.

During his first stint as the chief minister in 2013-14, he had ordered a crackdown against corrupt officials.

“During the last four and a half years, the Delhi government has come across officials who opposed public welfare policies for extraneous considerations and harmed the interests of Delhi,” a statement said.

However, due to lack of agencies like Anti-Corruption Bureau, the Delhi government has only been able to raise the issue of corruption with the LG, since it cannot take any direct action, it said.