Aam Aadmi Party trap to trip bribe seekers

NEW DELHI: Arvind Kejriwal made his government’s agenda to tackle corruption clear even before he moved into the secretariat. He announced that a special phone number will be issued in the next few days on which people can call to complain if asked for a bribe.

During his oath-taking ceremony on Saturday, Kejriwal told Delhiites if someone asks them for a bribe, they should pay it. After eliciting a surprised laughter from audience at the unexpected statement, he qualified it saying: When someone demands a bribe, agree and after fixing a time, call on this number to complain so that the offender can be caught. “You help us catch the corrupt red-handed . After that it’s my responsibility to get your work done,” he said.

Kejriwal had given a preview of his plan on Friday when, during his daily janta durbar , he asked a man to carry out a similar deal. As reported by TOI on Saturday, the person had complained against an offi cial in Karol Bagh who had been asking for money to release documents. “You finalize the deal and let us know. We’ll catch him red-handed ,” he advised.

Government records show Delhi Police and the municipal corporations are departments with the most corruption cases. The 2013 human development report of Delhi showed that people were most unhappy with their dealings with these two departments, followed by traffic police, Delhi Jal Board and Delhi Transport Corporation.