Shillong, Mar 16 (IANS) Meghalaya Chief Minister Wednesday said the government was working on a policy to make it mandatory for politicians, bureaucrats and government servants to declare their assets annually.
‘Filing of Income Tax return is a mechanism to check assets annually. Since the tribal population here is exempt from filing IT returns, the policy would ensure that declaration of assets is also mandatory for them,’ Sangma said told the assembly.
He said the policy would be implemented at the earliest and would help in checking corruption.
Meghalaya would be one of the few states in the country to have such a policy. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has made it mandatory for politicians and bureaucrats to declare their assets annually.
Saying the government was serious in checking corruption, the chief minister promised to overhaul the Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) and make it an autonomous body.
‘The ACB is not an autonomous body. The ACB is further working with a skeletal staff of 10 people,’ he said.
Former Lok Sabha Speaker Purno Sangma suggested that every ministry must have a vigilance officer to check corruption. The chief minster agreed it was a sound suggestion.