File Photo: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. (Press Trust of India)
Moving towards fulfilling one of its major poll promises, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will on Sunday re-launch the anti-corruption helpline where the public can report against corrupt officials.
The '1031' helpline will be inaugurated at a function at Talkatora stadium on April 5, a senior official said.
According to the official, the service can be used by people to lodge complaints if they are harassed for bribes by government officials.
Although the service will officially start on April 5, one can still use it to report complaints as the government has begun a trial run of the helpline.
The helpline will be a revival of the service which the AAP government had launched during its short-lived 49-day stint in power after the Assembly elections of 2013.
A dedicated helpline for reporting cases of corruption was one of the major promises made by AAP in its manifesto for the Assembly elections this year.
According to the official, a group of volunteers has been trained to run the 24/7 helpline and attend the calls in English and Hindi. All the cases will be investigated by the anti-corruption branch of Delhi government.
Any sting video or audio clip will be put through a forensic test during the investigation.
"You can complain against bribe demands by a government official or can report corruption if you have recorded audio or video evidence against an officer. Within 48 hours, a member of the anti-corruption branch will contact you and collect your evidence for further investigation," explained a call handler on the 1031 helpline number.
According to the official, the helpline received over one lakh phone calls during AAP's previous term in government.
Most of the complaints were received against Delhi Police, the official said.