CM’s helpline on graft yields dismal results

HYDERABAD: Amid much fanfare, the Chief Minister’s helpline number to report instances of corruption was launched way back in 2014. Only 18 cases have so far been actually booked, though as many as 7,558 complaints have been received through phone calls, a reply received under the Right To Information (RTI) Act disclosed.

Once calls are made to the Chief Minister’s helpline, they are to be forwarded to the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) for investigation depending on the details available.

However, the RTI response revealed that the helpline number and the ACB are not interlinked with each other. This means complaints do not go to the ACB till they are not forwarded by the staff working on the helpline number.

As per available statistics, not even one per cent of the complaints received over phone have been resolved. The 18 complaints booked from out the total 7,558 complaints received amount to 0.002 per cent of the total cases.

“How will there be accountability if numbers are not interlinked. There should be a direct connection to the ACB when complaints are made,” observed RTI activist Robin Zaccheus.

He pointed out that there is no tracking mechanism with regards to complaints made over phone. “It means data is not being tracked. In other words, there is no seriousness over stopping corruption in the state,” the activist remarked.

An ACB official, on condition of anonymity, said it is sometimes not possible to investigate cases of corruption based on inadequate information given through phone calls. Some of the calls made to the helpline number are also prank calls, he added.