(THE NEWSMAN OF INDIA.COM)
RailTel Corporation of India a Mini Ratna CPSU, under Ministry of Railways observed Vigilance Awareness Week (VAW) – 2022 from 31-Oct-22 to 6-Nov-2022 in a very comprehensive and elaborate manner. RailTel planned many activities from 31-Oct-22 to 4-Nov-2022.

The week is observed under the aegis of the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), the apex vigilance institution with the objective to bring together all the stakeholders to participate in the prevention of corruption and to raise public awareness about the threats posed by corruption.

The VAW-2022 is being observed on the theme “Corruption free India for a developed Nation”. It is an occasion for employees and other stakeholders to rededicate themselves to the mission of inculcating honesty and integrity in every aspect of official and personal dealings.

31st Oct is also the birthday of Shri Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel- the Iron Man of India, who is a shining example of probity in public life. This day is observed as National Unity Day.

Some of the activities held during this period included Integrity Pledge, National Unity Day pledge, Nukkad Natak, reports presentation, compendium launch, Vigilance Bulletin launch, lectures by experts and different in-house competitions.

On the Inaugural day 31-Oct-2022 of VAW-2022, Integrity Pledge and Unity Day pledge was administered by Sanjai Kumar, CMD RailTel physically to the employees at its Corporate Office, New Delhi along with to the employees from regional offices virtually who were connected through video link. Nukkad Natak by the in-house team of RailTel was performed to make people aware of the evils of corruption.

CMD Sanjai Kumar launched ‘Systemic Improvements in RailTel-A Compendium’ and ‘Vigilance Bulletin 2022’ in the presence of Dr. Chandramani Sharma, CVO RailTel, V Rama Manohara Rao, Director (Finance), RailTel: and other senior officials. The compendium has all the recommendations of systemic improvements for different departments in RailTel made since January 2020 by Vigilance Department. The bulletin has several articles on creating awareness among the Executives to bring efficiency in their functioning.

As a precursor to VAW 2022, all Ministries/ Departments/ Organizations were required to launch a three-month long campaign on “Preventive Vigilance cum internal housekeeping activities” from 16th August, 2022 to 15th November, 2022. RailTel, under the guidance of CVO, is successfully running this campaign effectively in its Corporate Office & Regional Offices and the progress so far achieved were presented during this week.

Experts were invited to share their expertise on different aspects of vigilance. They delivered lectures/ made presentations on the related subjects which included:
i. Presentation on Open-source intelligence (OSINT) – An introduction to the Collection of Digital Intelligence by Dr Deepak Raj Rao, Asstt. Professor, National Forensic Science University (NFSU) Rohini campus, New Delhi.
ii. Presentation on Detection of Forgery and Decipherment of Alteration in Documents by Sanjeev Kumar, Associate Documentation Officer, NFSU Rohini campus New Delhi.
iii. Presentation on Technological Initiatives- website maintenance & updation and identification of new areas for service delivery of customers/ staff to be brought on online portal and initiation of steps for creating online platform- by Mrs. Haritima Jaipuriar, GM/IT/Project, RailTel.
iv. Lecture by Anish Prasad, IPS, Director Vigilance (Police), Railway Board.

Other activities as a part of observance of VAW were competition on Speech, Poster making, Poem Writing, Essay Writing, Quiz, etc. where the employees enthusiastically participated.

In the concluding event, CMD, Sanjai Kumar interacted with family members below 18 years of age to sensitize them on the subject of corruption.In his address, Sanjai Kumar, CMD RailTel said; “Integrity is a virtue that must be inculcated, imbibed and regularly reinforced in every individual from a very young age, to enable them to grow and evolve into a responsible citizen. It is one of the most essential and desirable values an employer seeks in employees. Integrity at workplace is an important element which seeks to foster a clear, open and transparent environment that encourages objectivity, positivity and sincerity, leading to transparent and ethical decision making. RailTel has been focusing on improving the internal managerial processes through systemic improvements to qualitatively enhance work efficiency and the delivery of services. We are committed towards introducing state of the art technology-based initiatives in all aspects of our working, thereby bringing more transparency and objectivity. It should be emphasized that vigilance work is a necessary management function and there should be greater interaction between vigilance officials and employees of the company to make vigilance an integral part of management decisions.”
Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Chandramani Sharma, CVO RailTel said, “Vigilance Manual, defines Vigilance as watchfulness and alertness. If the vigilance set-up is effective in an organization, it will certainly ensure the functioning of the other segments in an efficient way. Vigilance administration comprises of preventive and punitive anti-corruption measures. For conducting our duties in Vigilance, we require cooperation of employees without any hesitation. It is important to focus on preventive vigilance. I urge you all to not only to cooperate in vigilance work but also implement the systemic improvements recommended so that un-intentional mistakes are taken care of in future and RailTel grows.
The week-long ceremony culminated with valedictory function, concluding remarks by CMD, presentation of VAW, 2022 Observance Report by CVO & distribution of Prizes to the winners of various competitions.