Laxman Oraon: New role

Ranchi, Dec. 12: Newly-appointed Lokayukta of Jharkhand Laxman Oraon said he would go all out to stem corruption, which has stalled the development of the state.

?Development is not visible in Jharkhand. You go to the remote areas and you will find that there is no electricity, no roads, no well, no ponds. Then where does the money earmarked by the government under the various schemes go? My effort will be to find out where does the money go. This will check corruption to a great extent,? said Oraon, a former judge of Jharkhand High Court.

Oraon, who was appointed the Lokayukta last week, said he was yet to receive guidelines from the government regarding his job. He, however, said barring the chief minister, all other ministers, bureaucrats and government employees will come under his purview.

?I was asked to run the office temporarily from Audrey House. But I refused because of the space crunch. Moreover, there was no point changing the office after sometime. Now I have been promised that I will be provided with an alternate place to run the office. Then I will be able to start functioning,? he said.

He said the Lokayukta office in Patna is sending all the pending cases against officials posted under jurisdiction of Jharkhand to the Ranchi Lokayukta office. Oraon said: ?After we get the details of the cases from the Patna office, we will start investigating the matter. By that time, we will start receiving new cases as well.?

Asked about his style of functioning, he said: ?Our strategy will be two-pronged. First, we will act after receiving complaints from the public and then issue notices to the ministers and the officials concerned. This will be followed by full-fledged investigation into the cases.?