Working to regain public faith in Lokayukta: Justice Vishwanatha Shetty

Bengaluru: Lokayukta Justice P. Vishwanatha Shetty said that he has visited 12 districts and held meetings with district heads in the last three months after he took charge.

He was speaking at the interactive meeting with the members of Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FKCCI) on Tuesday.

“After I took charge as Lokayukta, I have visited 12 districts and have held meetings with DCs, SPs, and other heads of departments. I have clearly told them that the schemes of the government should reach the beneficiaries. I have asked them to work effectively, otherwise I will have to initiate action against them,” he said, adding that he will visit all other remaining districts in a month or two.

Justice Shetty opined that too much of publicity sometimes would hamper the interests of the institution. “As of now, my prime focus is to regain the confidence of the public in the Lokayukta institution. If I call media persons to cover all the works I do, it would be individual centric. I don’t want to be termed as ‘media crazy’. Without any publicity, the Lokayukta institution is doing good and catering to the needs of general public,” he added.

Further, he said that he did not want to create fear among bureaucrats by raiding their offices. “First, we need to take the bureaucrats to confidence and then initiate action against them if they are not working effectively. Lokayukta is not there just to punish officials. It is also my duty to protect honest and sincere officials. Without raiding any office, I have passed on the message to all departments by calling the department heads to my office. For instance, heads of most of the government hospitals in Bengaluru were called to my office and I asked them to maintain cleanliness on the hospital premises. I have also discussed with the BBMP Commissioner on the solutions for the garbage menace,” he said.

“As of now, there are 6,500 matters pending before the Lokayukta institution and 2,500 out of them come under my jurisdiction. The rate of petitions coming in are higher than the rate of disposals. However, we are working to dispose the matters effectively within a short period,” he added.