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New vigilance chief says he 'will be a goldfish in a glass bowl'

N Vittal, the Public Enterprises Selection Board chairman, will take charge as the country's first chief vigilance commissioner of the newly created Central Vigilance Commission and thus head the all-powerful anti-corruption body.

Talking to UNI in Pune this evening, Rediff On The NeT columnist Vittal said the appointment came as a ''pleasant surprise'' yesterday before he left Delhi for Pune to participate in the 'Emmit '98' South Asia Association for Regional Co-operation conference, which has been organised by the Pune-based Centre for Development of Advanced Computing.

India, Vittal said, has been rated as the ninth most corrupt country by an non-government organisation, Transparency International, and must read as to what parameters were adopted to rate the country in that order.

Though Vittal was reluctant to comment on his priorities on taking over as the CVC, he, however, said he would study the ordinance before applying his mind.

According to Vittal, there are four factors which encourage corruption -- scarcity, lack of transparancy, issue of delays and red-tapism.

It is the system, which would need to be changed to curb corruption, he observed.

He said it has been his practice all through his service in the IAS to seek information from the people concerned and even now ''I would write to all those concerned to get the feedback.''

Vittal said he may have to end his association with other institutions with the new assignment as ''I will be a goldfish in a glass bowl.''

UNI

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