Day 1 of Punjab CM Bhagwant: ‘Record officials who seek bribe’

Recalling a similar move announced over eight years ago by the AAP-led government in Delhi, which was formed with Congress support in December 2013 and lasted for 49 days, Mann said that initiative had prompted people to vote again for his party, which got a “huge mandate” later.

“Today, I am going to make a similar announcement in Punjab. March 23 is the martyrdom anniversary of Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev Singh and Rajguru. I will roll out a helpline number on their martyrdom anniversary. That would be my personal WhatsApp number. In the entire Punjab, if any official seeks a bribe from you, don’t say no. Record a video or audio and send it to that number. I guarantee that my office will probe it and, if found guilty, no corrupt official would be spared,” Mann said.

“Strict action will be taken because corruption has become a termite [in the system],” he said.

“I am not threatening any Punjab officer or officials as 99 per cent of them are honest and perform their duties diligently. It is about the remaining one per cent. Ik gandi machhi saare talaab nu ganda kar dindi hai (One dirty fish dirties the entire pond). I will not let the entire bureaucracy get defamed due to that,” he said.

“AAP does not require illegal bribe money. AAP contests elections with money arranged by honest means. Now, we will put an end to this corrupt system,” he said.

The Punjab Chief Minister also asked the state’s police officers “not to worry”. “You will not get any call from us for transfers or for postings. We will correct the system. We will make Punjab as dreamt by Bhagat Singh,” Mann said.

In 2013, when the AAP-led government in Delhi had announced the helpline, it received thousands of audio and video recordings, leading to action being initiated against 30 officials by the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB).

In February 2014, the AAP-led government asked its Anti-Corruption Branch to file a criminal case against the then petroleum minister M Veerappa Moily, former minister Murli Deora and Reliance Industries chief Mukesh Ambani for alleged collusion in hiking the prices of natural gas. Soon after, the Delhi government fell after a standoff between AAP and Congress over the Jan Lokpal and Swaraj Bills.

In 2015, when AAP came to power on its own with a thumping majority, the BJP-led Centre passed a notification saying the ACB should probe only cases against state government employees — without full statehood for Delhi, key entities such as municipal corporations, Delhi Development Authority and Delhi Police do not come under the state government.

On Thursday, Kejriwal said: “In Delhi, when we came into power for 49 days, we had a similar intervention. Several people sent audio and video messages and 30-32 officers were punished, some were sent to jail. Within 49 days, corruption did not decrease in Delhi, it ended. The phone became a tool for empowerment. If someone sought a bribe, people would just say, ‘Should I take out my phone and the work would be done’. When we came back to power and we tried to implement this again, the Centre took away ACB from us.”

Officials in Delhi, however, warned that their counterparts in Punjab will have to ensure that the helpline is not misused. “This intervention lasted only a short while in Delhi, but even then some of the complaints received were baseless. A set procedure has to be followed carefully to ensure the success of this helpline,” said a Delhi government official.

In Chandigarh, the five MLAs who did not make it to the swearing-in on Thursday were Ashwani Sharma (Pathankot) and Jangi Lal Mahajan (Mukerian) of BJP; Rana Gurjeet Singh (Kapurthala) of Congress and his son Inder Pratap Singh (Sultanpur Lodhi) who won as an Independent; and Ganieve Kaur (Majitha), the wife of SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia.