Nearly 80% inquiries of ‘misbehaviour’ complaints by the vigilance wing of AP Eastern Power Distribution Company Limited (APEPDCL) have been proved correct in the year 2022.
The department registered five complaints from its jurisdiction covering the erstwhile districts of Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam, East Godavari and West Godavari. The ‘misbehavior’ category usually pertains to sexual harassment, teasing, arguments using unparliamentary language, etc.
Apart from this, the vigilance wing also registered complaints under the category ‘fake certificates’, for which five personnel were investigated. Two complaints were found to be correct and one has been kept pending.
The cases of forged certificates pertain to those submitting forged documents at the time or after joining the service and are kept under scrutiny on the basis of complaints received.
talking to HinduAPEPDCL Chief Vigilance Officer AVL Prasanna Kumar said his department is an autonomous body and deals with cases of different categories, including staff misconduct and corruption.
“During the calendar year 2022, we investigated 85 complaints related to various matters. About 38% of the completed cases turned out to be correct. In the misbehavior category, 80% of the completed cases were confirmed as four out of five cases were found to be correct and the reports have been forwarded to the concerned authorities,” said Mr. Kumar.
Presently complaints are lodged through APEPDCL’s 1912 toll free number. Electricity consumers can complain about corruption and register with vigilance through a toll-free number against issues like demand of bribe by APEPDCL employees for any kind of authorized service.
“People should not hesitate to call 1912 if there is any corruption in the services of the company. Till recently this number was limited to complaints related to consumer services, but now the vigilance wing is also ready to listen to people’s complaints,” said Mr. Kumar.
In the year 2022, the vigilance wing had registered 14 cases of corruption in APEPDCL limits. Out of these, trial has been completed in 10 cases and charges have been proved in three cases.
“People need to be more aware about the vigilance department and its services to bring about a corruption free and healthy environment in discoms,” said Mr. Kumar.
On the other hand, Vigilance records both fatal and non-fatal accidents every year. A total of 247 accidents were registered in 2022, while the investigation of 186 cases was completed. He said that 38 cases have been proved while 61 cases are pending at various levels.