People should come forward to fight corruption: Patil

Mumbai, Nov 13 (UNI) Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister R R Patil today urged the people to cooperate in the state government's efforts to eliminate corruption and raise awareness about the malice.

Mr Patil, who also holds the Home portfolio, was speaking at a function organised by the State Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on the occasion of the Vigilance Awareness Week, which is being observed in the state from November 12 to 16.

''There is a need to create awareness about the ills of the corruption. People need to come forward and fight it along with the government agencies,'' he said.

Appreciating the work of the Bureau, the Minister said as a matter of fact, there was a higher conviction rate in the cases registered by the state's premier anti-corruption agency.

Calling upon the citizens to form local vigilance cells to promote awareness and expose corruption at all levels, ACB Director General of Police J D Virakar said such cells should act as watchdog to resist and expose corruption.

During the week, a 2.4 minute short film on fight against corruption will be shown on the local cable network and 90 seconds spot on the same issue will be screened at various multiplexes and cineme halls.

Meanwhile, according to the ACB statistics, it has registered 316 trap cases and another 25 cases of disproportinate assets (DPA) in the first 10 months of the year.

Mumbai was on top in the trap cases with 63 cases registered between January and October this year, followed by Pune with 57 cases and Aurangabad 43 cases.

In all, Mumbai unit of the Bureau registered 114 cases of corruption, which included cases of trap, misconduct and DPA.

The state ACB in association with the Public Concern for Governance Trust (PCGT), a local NGO, has organised the Vigilance Awraness Week, which aims at achieving the objective of creating adequate awareness about the menace of corruption and its disasterous consequences and also about the ways and means to fight the evil.

UNI