New Delhi, Oct 27 (IANS) The Vigilance Awareness Week kicked off on Monday with the Central Vigilance Commissioner administering a pledge of integrity to his team and Union Ministers, including Health Minister J.P. Nadda, and department heads participating in similar events, an official said.

Central Vigilance Commissioner Praveen Kumar Srivastava and Vigilance Commissioner A.S. Rajeev administered the integrity pledge to the officials at Satarkata Bhawan.

An official of the Enforcement Directorate said on X, “Today, all officers and staff took the Integrity Pledge, reaffirming our collective commitment to transparency, accountability and ethical conduct in public service.”

A CEC official said in a statement that Vigilance Awareness Week 2025 is being observed from October 27 to November 2 on the theme “Vigilance: Our Shared Responsibility”.

For the last few years, the Commission has been running a three-month campaign associated with the Vigilance Awareness Week. This year, the campaign is being undertaken from August 18 to November 17, said an official in a statement.

During the three-month campaign, all ministries/departments/ organisations of the Central government have lined up action on five different focus areas, namely: Disposal of pending complaints received before June 30; Disposal of pending cases; Capacity Building Programmes; Asset Management and Digital initiatives.

The focus on these areas will have a meaningful impact on vigilance administration. As part of the Vigilance Awareness Week 2025, the Commission will also be having a one-day workshop on “AI and Emerging Technologies for Ethical Governance” on October 31, said the statement.

Earlier, while administering the pledge of integrity to Health Ministry employees, Nadda emphasised the importance of institutionalising ethical practices and building a culture of vigilance at every level of governance.

He stated, “A checklist of dos and don’ts should be prepared in simple, layman’s terms so that people do not end up doing anything wrong in good faith or under compassionate consideration. Training and capacity building should be a regular exercise so that everyone remains aware and alert.”

As a prelude to Vigilance Awareness Week 2025, the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) had, in August, issued a circular advising all organisations to undertake a three-month campaign on Preventive Vigilance.

–IANS

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