Bihar CM Nitish Orders Strict Anti-Corruption Measures In High-Level Review Of Vigilance Bodies

Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has called for swift and decisive action against corruption following a high-level review of the state’s Vigilance Department in Patna on Thursday. The meeting, held at his official residence ‘Sankalp’ on 1 Anne Marg, focused on strengthening the state’s anti-corruption mechanisms and improving public trust in governance.

The chief minister reviewed the work of the Vigilance Investigation Bureau, the Special Vigilance Unit, the Technical Examiner Cell, and the Economic Offences Unit. He emphasised a zero-tolerance policy towards corruption and directed officials to take stricter and faster action on registered cases.

“The state government is committed to development with justice. Corruption cannot be tolerated in any form, and we must ensure that administrative functioning remains clean, responsive, and accountable,” CM Nitish said.

Officials from across the anti-corruption wings presented updates. Arvind Kumar Chaudhary, Additional Chief Secretary of the Home Department, outlined the structure and mandate of the Vigilance Department. Director General J.S. Gangwar gave a detailed account of ongoing investigations, while Additional DG of the Special Vigilance Unit, Pankaj Darad, noted the unit’s role since its inception in 2006. Nayyar Hasnain Khan, Additional DG of the Economic Offences Unit, highlighted progress in tackling financial and cyber crimes, and Ravi Kumar, Engineer-in-Chief of the Technical Examiner Cell, reported on efforts to root out technical irregularities in government projects.

The chief minister instructed departments to enhance internal monitoring, particularly in vulnerable sectors such as block offices, police stations, education, health, transport, mining, and welfare services like Anganwadi. He also stressed the need for public outreach, urging officials to ensure citizens can report complaints through toll-free numbers and control rooms without fear or difficulty.

District magistrates, he added, should conduct surprise inspections of welfare schemes such as MNREGA, and act immediately upon discovering irregularities. “Make the vigilance system more sensitive and dynamic. The public must feel that justice is swift and wrongdoing will not be spared,” CM Nitish said.

Also present at the meeting were senior bureaucrats and police officials including Deepak Kumar, Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister; Anupam Kumar and Kumar Ravi, Secretaries to the CM; and other top officers from the Vigilance and Economic Offences units.