Make it tough for the corrupt

Hanamkonda: The onus is on governments to felicitate the honest officials and whistle-blowers, former Central Information Commissioner Madabhushi Sridhar Acharyulu said, speaking at a programme organised by the 'Jwala', a NGO working for the eradication of corruption, here on Sunday.

"The government which punishes corrupt officials also needs to give a pat to those honest and committed officials to encourage good practices in State departments," Sridhar said. He said that the government which brought in several laws to curb corruption failed to do so.

There is a need for strict implementation of the laws to curb the malady. He along with the 'Jwala' founder-president Sunkari Prashanth, Lok Satta Udyama Samstha State advisor Dr Pracha Kodandarama Rao, State Bar council member Sirikonda Sanjeeva Rao felicitated a contractor Srinivas Reddy because of whom the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ABC) sleuths nabbed a deputy executive engineer of irrigation department Raghupathi and assistant engineer Gouri Laxmi, who demanded a bribe of Rs 1.5 lakh to pass a bill.

Srinivas Reddy lodged a complaint with the ACB and got the officials arrested. Bar council former vice-president Allam Nagaraju gave a cash prize of Rs 20,000 to Srinivas Reddy.