Bhagwant Mann Announces Anti-Corruption Helpline in First Big Decision

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Thursday announced that an anti-corruption helpline will be launched on March 23, which marks the death anniversary of freedom fighter Bhagat Singh. The CM said the helpline will “be my personal WhatsApp number”. “If anyone asks you for a bribe, send it to me by recording a video/audio of it. Strict action will be taken against the corrupt,” the CM tweeted.

The CM said the helpline is exclusively for the people to upload videos of corrupt officers, demanding a bribe for their day-to-day work or indulging in other malpractices so that such erring officers could be brought to book, according to a statement from the CM’s office. “99% of the people are honest, while the remaining one per cent degrades the system. I am always with honest (government) officers,” the CM said, also adding that no leader would harass any officers for extortion.

Addressing his first meeting after taking over as the CM, Mann said, “Corrupt officers have no place in my government and if any such complaint comes to my notice, then don’t expect any sort of sympathy for such officers.”

Mann also exhorted the top brass of state Civil and Police Administration to discharge their duties as public servants in the letter and spirit, thus respecting the massive mandate got by AAP in the recently concluded assembly polls, according to a statement from the CM’s office.

Mann further said that the people who have given us an opportunity to serve the state are the real rulers in the democracy having the power to make the leaders rule or show them the door.

“Our prime concern should be to make our state as real Punjab, not the London, California or Paris,” he said at the meeting.

Speaking about vendetta politics, which Mann said was practised by the previous regimes, the chief minister asked the administration to discharge their duties “fearlessly without any political pressure”. “I don’t keep a red diary like the earlier political parties and have only green one so you need not worry about any vendetta,” he added.

The CM, meanwhile, also announced to reward both civil and police officers with ‘Best Performance Award’ quarterly for making a difference in the lives of the common man at the grassroots level.

These announcements come hours after Mann said that he is all set to take a “big decision in the interest of the state” — a move “no one in the history of Punjab” has made till now.

“A big decision will be taken today in the interest of Punjab. No one in the history of Punjab has taken such a decision till date. Will be announcing it shortly,” Mann announced.

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