For those who think all the slots on high-profile advisory bodies have been taken, there’s more. This time, the Central Vigilance Commision has quietly set up its own Vigilance Advisory Council, allowing for the first time a whiff of free enterprise to enter Satarkata Bhavan, where the CVC is headquartered in New Delhi.Infosys chief N.R. Narayanamurthy, former SAIL chief Arvind Pande and former Mumbai police chief Julio Ribeiro have found a place on the 12-member Vigilance Advisory Council. The Council is expected to meet at least twice a year and held its first meeting with CVC officials yesterday.Besides these members, the Council comprises eminent officials and representatives from various fields. Among the retired members are former Central Bureau of Investigation Director Trinath Mishra; former State Bank of India Chairman M.S. Verma; former Naval Chief R.H. Tahiliani (who also heads Transparency International) and S.V. Giri, a former Central Vigilance Commissioner.The Income Tax Department is represented on the Council by G. Anantharaman, a former Chief Commissioner. Well-known Chartered Accountant Y.S. Malegaon and Tamil Nadu bureaucrat P.V. Rajaraman are also part of the Council. The legal fraternity is represented by former Solicitor-General Kirit Rawal and the NGO community by the Lok Satta National Coordinator, Jayaprakash Narayan. Dr Ashok Narayan, Vigilance Commissioner of the Gujarat Government has been picked as the nominee of a state government.Central Vigilance Commission P. Shankar told The Indian Express that the idea of setting up the Advisory Council was for them to expand their resource base for getting inputs on how the vigilance apparatus in the country could serve civil society better. ‘‘We have got very good feedback in the very first meeting of the Council and some working papers may be formalised by members of the group soon. We expect the Commission to benefit greatly from the experience of the members,’’ he said.
