The Local self government department (LSGD) has issued guidelines for functioning of internal vigilance officers including periodic inspection of files and CCTV footage in local bodies, reporting of serious discrepancies to the principal director, and monitoring of efficiency of service delivery at the ground level.
The internal vigilance mechanism of the LSGD had recently stepped up its activities with inspections across the State, following which erring officials were suspended.
Following the formation of the LSGD common service, 66 senior-most performance audit supervisors and senior superintendents were redeployed as internal vigilance officers. The number of such officers in each district have been fixed considering the number and nature of local bodies. The officers will also function as the convenors of the local body-related complaint redressal forums to be formed at the sub district level.
Reports regarding the quality of service delivery need to be submitted to the principal director every three months, based on interactions with the public, people’s representatives, and other officials at the local body. The officers are required to carry out inspections at local bodies without taking any assistance from the officials there. They have powers to check whether the local body is having effective financial management.
Continuous evaluation of the various aspects of functioning of local bodies have to be done to ensure that irregularities do not take place. Each officer has to conduct surprise checks in at least two local bodies.
