Vigilance Awareness Week At BIS

摘要

Vigilance Awareness Week was started by Shri N. Vithal, former Chief Vigilance Commissioner and is celebrated every year in the memory of Shri Vallabh Bhai Patel, Iron Man of India, well-known for his honesty. 'Vigilance' is a greater concept than 'anti-corruption'. While corruption generally denotes any act of commission or omission by a public servant for pecuniary gains or other materialistic advantages, directly or indirectly, for himself or family/friends, vigilance connotes watchfulness and encompasses all deviations from integrity, probity and morality. In today's materialistic world, when a human being is besieged with innumerable temptations, it becomes essential to not only educate the people about the pitfalls of corruption but also sensitize them by making them aware about norms and procedures, and the punitive actions which await those who get entrapped in the vicious circle of corruption. The relevance of honesty and transparency in our system cannot be over-emphasized. Gandhiji had once said that there was enough in this world for everyone's need but not enough for everyone's greed. It is not enough for an organization to make profits but it is equally important for it to be committed to the welfare of the society. At the national level, a need was felt to impart impetus to the ongoing efforts for eradication of corruption from our society and for this purpose, the Central Vigilance Commission had, four years back, decided to observe Vigilance Awareness Week' every year from 31 October. Appropriately, the birthday of Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel, architect of our freedom struggle and the force behind amalgamation of hundreds of princely states into a nation called India, was chosen as the day to start the Vigilance Awareness Week. This also sends across a message that we should strive to imbibe the virtues of impeccable integrity, dedicated patriotism and strong character, which were so abundant in Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel.