CENTRAL VIGILANCE COMMISSION

Subject : Governance

Context : Central Vigilance Commission officers will be transferred every 3 years from now onwards.

Concept :

The Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) has modified the guidelines pertaining to the transfer and posting of officials in the vigilance units of government organisations, restricting their tenure to three years at one place.
The tenure may be extended to three more years, albeit at a different place of posting.
According to the CVC, undue long stay of an official in a vigilance department had the potential of developing vested interests, apart from giving rise to unnecessary complaints or allegations.

About CVC

Central Vigilance Commission is the apex vigilance institution, free of control from any executive authority, monitoring all vigilance activity under the Central Government and advising various authorities in Central Government organizations in planning, executing, reviewing and reforming their vigilance work.
The CVC was set up by the Government in February, 1964 on the recommendations of the Committee on Prevention of Corruption, headed by Shri K. Santhanam.
In 2003, the Parliament enacted CVC Act conferring statutory status on the CVC.
The CVC is not controlled by any Ministry/Department. It is an independent body which is only responsible to the Parliament.

Functions

The CVC receives complaints on corruption or misuse of office and to recommend appropriate action.
Following institutions, bodies, or a person can approach to CVC: Central government , Lokpal , Whistle blowers.
A whistleblower is a person, who could be an employee of a company, or a government agency, or an outsider (like media, higher government officials, or police) disclosing information to the public or some higher authority about any wrongdoing, which could be in the form of fraud, corruption, etc.
It is not an investigating agency. The CVC either gets the investigation done through the CBI or through chief vigilance officers (CVO) in government offices.
It is empowered to inquire into offences alleged to have been committed under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 by certain categories of public servants.
Its annual report gives the details of the work done by the commission and points to systemic failures which lead to corruption in government departments.
Improvements and preventive measures are also suggested in report.