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Bihar govt plans to use YouTube to curb corruption

August 24, 2011 01:02 IST

After announcing that the properties of corrupt officials will be confiscated and turned into primary schools, Bihar government plans to upload videos of complaints against officials seeking bribes and any genuine grievances of corruption on YouTube.

The state government has decided to use YouTube to expose and embarrass corrupt officials and to take its fight against corruption before the people, principal secretary, rural development department, A Santosh Mathew said in Patna.

"We have been planning to use YouTube as an experiment to fight corruption in government welfare schemes, particularly the Indira Awas Yojana," Mathew told rediff.com in Patna.

He said that to begin with, the state government has directed all district officials to make arrangement for videography of complaints of beneficiaries of IAY.

"Any complaint by the poorest of the poor regarding demand of bribe by officials for houses under IAY would be uploaded on the You Tube, "Mathew said.

Bihar state rural development minister Nitish Mishra said that government has decided to link IAY with the YouTube uploading process, the first of its kind in Bihar, and probably in the country to fight corruption.

Mishra said that on August 27 the state government will organise a massive state-wide camp to distribute the money under IAY to 10 lakh people under BPL category to construct their houses.

"The government will videograph everything in the state wide camps to distribute the money under IAY and will record videography of complaints against government officials seeking bribes by beneficiaries," Mathew said.

According to officials, there will be at least three video recording counters at each camp where the persons concerned will record videos of all beneficiaries complaining against officials seeking bribes.

On Monday, fed up with rampant corruption and loss of money through forgery by a middleman, led a Mahadalit man, his wife and three children to commit suicide in Bihar's Aurangabad district.

Rambachan Rajvansi, 30, doused his wife, two daughters, and his son with kerosene and set them on fire before killing himself.

Daudnagar sub divisional officer Kamal Nain told rediff.com over telephone that Rajvansi was worried and upset after he was threatened of dire consequences by a middleman Vinod Kumar when he inquired about withdrawal of his money allotted for house under the Indira Awaas Yojana through forgery from his bank account.

This shocking incident has exposed rampant corruption and forgery by middleman of funds allocated for houses under IAY to the poor in Bihar.

M I Khan in Patna