Message of zero tolerance on corruption
Our aim is to provide transparent, accountable and honest administration to the public: Chief Minister Vishnu Dev Sai
Immediate suspension of 22 excise officers is a big blow to corruption
Action also taken on IAS, IFS and state service officers
Raipur, 11 July 2025: The government under the leadership of Chief Minister Vishnu Dev Sai in Chhattisgarh is moving forward with a zero tolerance policy on corruption. Along with this, strict steps are being taken continuously against corruption. In the much-discussed liquor scam of Rs 3200 crore during the previous regime, the Sai government has taken the biggest action so far and suspended 22 out of 29 excise officers. This action of suspension is being considered as the biggest action taken by any state so far. These officers are also accused of making movable and immovable properties from illegal earnings of about Rs 88 crore by doing corruption between the years 2019 to 2023. A detailed investigation conducted by the Economic Offences Investigation Bureau (EOW) and the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has revealed that the entire scam was being operated through an organized syndicate, in which the accused excise officials played an active role.
As soon as this was revealed, the Chhattisgarh government suspended 22 officials without delay. These include Excise Deputy Commissioner Animesh Netam, Arvind Kumar Patle, Neetu Notani, Nohar Singh Thakur, Vijay Sen Sharma. Similarly, Assistant Commissioner Excise Pramod Kumar Netam, Vikas Kumar Goswami, Naveen Pratap Singh Tomar, Rajesh Jaiswal, Manjushree Kaser, Dinkar Vasnik, Ashish Kosam, Saurabh Bakshi, Prakash Pal, Ramakrishna Mishra, Alakh Ram Kaser, Sonal Netam and District Excise Officer Mohit Kumar Jaiswal, Garibpal Singh Dardi, Iqbal Ahmed Khan, Janardan Singh Kaurav, Nitin Kumar Khanduja. It is worth noting that during the five-year tenure of the previous government, many big scams have taken place, which are being investigated by central and state agencies and one by one all the culprits are being sent to jail. Not only the liquor scam, the state government is also getting cases like DMF scam, Mahadev Satta App scam and Tendu Patta scam investigated in depth, in which strict action is being taken against the culprits if any kind of involvement is revealed. In the last two years, ACB has caught more than 200 corrupt officials, which is a big example of the zero tolerance policy of the state government.
Under the leadership of Chief Minister Sai, the Chhattisgarh government is giving top priority to good governance and transparent administration in the state along with curbing corruption. Under this, purchases from the Gem portal have been made mandatory, e-office system has been started, the path of investment has been made corruption-free, transparent and easy through more than 350 reforms, in the same sequence, the process of NOC has been made very simple through Single Window System 2.0.
The Chhattisgarh government has implemented a transparent system by ending the FL-10 policy in the Excise Department and holograms printed from Nashik Press have now been made mandatory on the bottles of Indian and foreign liquor so that the sale of fake liquor can be stopped. Similarly, the process of mineral transit pass has now been made completely online, e-auction system of wood has been implemented and the Department of Good Governance and Convergence has been established for better implementation of schemes. The Chhattisgarh government has handed over the investigation of irregularities in the PSC-2021 examination to the CBI, in which the then chairman of the commission has been arrested. At the same time, the investigation of Bharatmala Yojana and CGMSC scams has also been handed over to the EOW, in which the guilty officers have been suspended. In this transparent action against corruption, action has also been taken against officials of various levels from IAS, IFS to state service. Chief Minister Vishnu Dev Sai has clearly said that this scam took place during the tenure of the previous government, no culprit involved in the scam will be spared. Now there is no place for corruption in the state, the aim of our government is to give transparent, accountable and honest administration to the public.
