About 100 people who had gathered at the deputy commissioner's office in New Delhi at the launch of the 'say no to bribe' campaign, were in for a rude shock.
The campaigners were at the DC's office armed with a declaration stating that the DC's office will not accept bribe or allow their colleagues to take bribe.
However, Deputy Commissioner, Akash Mohapatra outrightly refused to sign the declaration saying that he would first have to seek the permission of the commissioner.
Yashwant Singh, an India Against Corruption volunteer, who was a part of a team of three persuading the DC to sign the declaration, informed that the DC fist said that they were not allowed to do so under existing rules. However, he had no answer when he was asked to cite the rules.
Rajkumar, another member of the team, said, "It is shocking that the DC refused to sign a piece of paper that just said he would neither indulge in corruption himself nor allow his colleagues to do so." This was contrary to the attitude of some of the junior staff who willingly signed the declaration. In total, 21 officers signed the declaration.
The volunteers peacefully protested outside the office of the DC shouting slogans.
The campaign was launched under the banner of India Against Corruption. Starting this week, the volunteers plan to visit various government offices with the tricolor in hand and get declarations signed from officials. Similar initiatives are already being held in Mumbai, Pune and Chennai.
