7. COMBATING CORRUPTION
Looking at the number of agencies created to tackle corruption, it isapparent that the government has been keen to eradicate this malady. Even
before Independence, the colonial rulers had established the Delhi Special Police
Establishment (DSPE) to control corruption which surged during the Second
World War. The Prevention of Corruption Act was passed in 1947 (Ramakrishna
1997), and an Administrative Vigilance Division (AVD) created in the home
ministry in 1955. Vigilance officers were appointed in each ministry to enquire
into charges of corruption against employees in these organisations. Then, owing
to mounting public criticism, a Committee on Prevention of Corruption was
appointed in 1962 under K. Santhanam to examine this issue in depth and
recommend remedial measures. As a result of its recommendations, the Central
Vigilance Commission (CVC), independent of ministerial control was set up in
1964. Another important measure during the early decades was the creation of
the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in 1963, which incorporated DSPE as
the Investigation and Anti-Corruption Division (Gill 1998).
