To check corruption in India, CVC to train officials in Europe

India’s probity watchdog CVC has decided to train anti-corruption officials in Europe to check graft in the country, officials said Tuesday. The Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) is organizing a customized vigilance related training programme at the International Anti Corruption Academy (IACA), Vienna, Austria from June 3 to 14, they said citing an official order.

The training will be for eligible Chief Vigilance Officers (CVOs) – who act as a distant arm of the Commission to check corruption in an organization – and others engaged in vigilance related works, the officials said. The body has sought details from CVOs in order to update its database as well as nominate officers for the upcoming international/domestic training to be conducted by the Commission and for proposed customized training in Austria, they said.

The training plan of the Commission states that “the officers (CVOs) should not have undergone any foreign training in the last two years as on April 1 of the year in which training is being organized”, in order to be eligible for the upcoming international training, the officials said. The IACA is an international organization based in Laxenburg, Austria dedicated to overcoming current shortcomings in knowledge and practice in the field of anti-corruption and seeking to empower professionals for future challenges.

Over Rs, 240 crore has been allocated to the Personnel Ministry for domestic and foreign training of bureaucrats and augmenting necessary infrastructure during this fiscal in the interim budget presented by the Union government in February. The Personnel Ministry acts as a nodal department for the CVC.

In its annual report for 2017 tabled in Parliament last year, the CVC said it had received a total of 23,609 complaints of corruption. Of these, 12,089 were against railway employees and over 8,000 against various bank officials.