Chief Vigilance Officers in India

advtanmoy 25/10/2018 7 minutes read

The government of India appoints Chief Vigilance Officers in various Ministries/ Departments / Central Public Sector Undertakings / Public Sector Banks / Public Sector Insurance Companies / Autonomous Bodies / Societies, etc. to carry out vigilance work. The primary responsibility for maintenance of efficiency, integrity and transparency in an Organisation vest in the Secretary of a Ministry or the Head of the Department, or the Chief Executive of Public Sector Enterprises including Public Sector Banks and Public Sector Insurance Companies. Such an authority
is assisted by the Chief Vigilance Officer (CVO) in the discharge of vigilance functions. The CVO acts as an advisor to the Chief Executive and reports directly to him. He heads the Vigilance Division of the Organisation and provides a link between the Organisation and the Central Vigilance Commission as well as the Central Bureau of Investigation.

Large Departments / Organisations should have a full-time CVO, i.e. the officer should not be burdened with any other responsibility. If it is considered that the CVO in an Organisation does not have full-time vigilance work, he may be entrusted with such functions that serve as input to the vigilance activities, e.g. audit and inspections. However, the work related to security should not be entrusted to the CVO, as in that case, CVO may find very little time for effective performance of vigilance functions, apart from creating situations of conflict of interest. Furthermore, in order to be effective, a CVO should ordinarily be an outsider appointed for a fixed tenure on deputation terms as stipulated by Department of Personnel &Training. Chief Vigilance Officers in all Departments/ Organisations are appointed after prior consultation with the Central Vigilance Commission and no person whose appointment in that capacity is objected toby the Commission may be so appointed. (DoPT OM No. 372/8/99-AVD. III dated 18.01.2001)

The post of CVO in the Central Public Sector Undertakings is treated at par with Central Staffing Scheme post as it is filled after following the same procedure as is being followed under the Central Staffing Scheme for posts in the Central Government. However, in order to attract officers for manning the post of CVO in various Public Sector Undertakings, certain special dispensations have been made which are applicable to non-Central Staffing Scheme posts. For instance, if a request is received from an officer occupying a post under the Central Staffing Scheme on deputation, at least one year before the expiry of his tenure in the Central Staffing Scheme, duly recommended by the Ministry / Department in which he is posted, with the approval of the Minister-in-Charge, for being considered for appointment as CVO, such an officer, if selected for appointment as CVO may be allowed a tenure of three years as CVO subject to a maximum combined tenure of seven years in the Central Staffing Scheme and the post of CVO taken together.

ASSESSMENT:

Central Vigilance Commissioner assesses the work of CVOs. The Assessment is recorded in the APAR of the officer.

DUTIES AND FUNCTIONS OF CVO

A CVO heads the Vigilance Division of an Organisation and acts as an advisor to the Chief Executive in all matters pertaining to vigilance. He is also the nodal officer of the Organisation for interaction with CVC and CBI.
Vigilance functions to be performed by the CVO are of wide sweep and include collecting intelligence about the corrupt practices committed, or likely to be committed by the employees of his Organisation; investigating or causing an investigation to be made into allegations reported to him; processing investigation reports for further consideration of the disciplinary authority concerned; referring the matters to the Commission for advice wherever necessary; taking steps to prevent improper practices and commission of misconducts, etc. Thus, the CVO’s functions can broadly be divided into three categories, as under: –
(i) Preventive vigilance
(ii) Punitive vigilance
(iii) Surveillance and detection.

CHIEF EXECUTIVE vis-à-vis VIGILANCE MATTERS

The responsibility of ensuring probity, fairness and transparency in an organisation, vests with the Chief Executive, i.e. Secretary of a Ministry / Department, CEO / CMD / MD of a PSU/ PSB / PSIC or Head of any autonomous body. The CVO assists the Chief Executive in vigilance related matters as an extended arm of the Commission. Any vigilance function should aim at upholding the morale and protecting the value system of the organisation. A responsibility is cast on the Chief Executive who heads the organisation to set the right tone from the top management to ensure that the guilty are punished swiftly and innocents are protected from harassment. This would help prevent
misconducts, unethical practices and support the efficient functioning of the organisation. The Chief Executive is, therefore, expected to carefully review the vigilance work at least on a quarterly basis and act upon the reports submitted by CVO in a timely manner.

LIST OF SELECT ORGANISATIONS IN WHICH SPECIFIC APPROVAL OF THE COMMISSION IS REQUIRED FOR AN OFFICER TO BE APPOINTED AS CVO

On the basis of criteria such as turnover, manpower and spread across the country, Commission has identified some select Organisations for which prior concurrence of the Commission is necessary before considering a panel of names for appointment as CVO in them. The list as on 31.03.2017 is as follows: –

1. Airports Authority of India
2. Allahabad Bank
3. Andhra Bank
4. Bank of Baroda
5. Bank of India
6. Bank of Maharashtra
7. Bharat Coking Coal Ltd.
8. Bharat Dynamics Ltd.
9. Bharat Earth Movers Ltd.
10. Bharat Electronics Ltd.
11. Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd.
12. Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd.
13. Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd.

14. Canara Bank
15. Central Bank of India
16. Central Coalfields Ltd.
17. Chennai Port Trust
18. Coal India Ltd.
19. Container Corporation of India Ltd.
20. Corporation Bank
21. Central Public Works Department
22. Damodar Valley Corporation
23. Delhi Development Authority
24. Delhi Jal Board
25. Dena Bank
26. Eastern Coalfields Ltd.
27. Employees Provident Fund Organisation
28. Employees State Insurance Corporation
29. Kamarajar Port Ltd.
30. Food Corporation of India
31. GAIL (India) Ltd.
32. Goa Shipyard Ltd.
33. Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd.
34. Hindustan Shipyard Ltd.
35. Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd.
36. Housing & Urban Development Corporation
37. IDBI Bank Ltd.
38. Indian Bank
39. Indian Overseas Bank
40. Indian Oil Corporation Ltd.
41. IRCON International Ltd.
42. Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Ltd.