Media Release
Mangaluru, May 22: The Manel Srinivas Nayak Institute of Management (MSNIM) organized a talk on 'Preventive Vigilance in Public Sector Institutions' by M Damodar Kamath, former principal of Karnataka Bank Ltd, apex staff training college, Mangaluru, on May 17, at the institute campus in Bondel, Mangaluru. Damodar Kamath also formerly served as the chief vigilance officer of Indian Bank, Chennai.
The MSN Knowledge Series is a platform for outstanding academic talks aimed at disseminating knowledge in various fields, which are of keen interest and high utility for students and citizens. It is named after the institution’s founder president, the late Manel Srinivas Nayak.
In his talk, Damodar Kamath enlightened the students on vigilance. “In public sector institutions, fraud, misappropriation, and corruption are widespread issues. Preventive vigilance, based on the principle that prevention is better than cure, is crucial. Vigilance entails being alert and cautious, actively watching for potential dangers rather than waiting for problems to arise,” he said. He informed the gathering that each public sector undertaking has a vigilance department headed by a Chief Vigilance Officer (CVO), appointed by the central government through the central vigilance commission. The CVO plays proactive, reactive, and detective roles, addressing negligence, violations, and delays.
Illustrating his talk with examples, he said that whenever there is a complaint or suspicion, they follow certain formulas to determine a person’s integrity. “One of the formulas to judge a person’s integrity is to ask whether I would do the same thing within the rules of the organization, in the interest of the organization. If the answer is yes, it is not a vigilance case,” he said. He added that the Bhagavad Gita teaches us that while striving for perfection should be our aim, it is also essential to acknowledge human imperfections.
Institute mentor Vittaldas Leeladhar (Former deputy governor, Reserve Bank of India), Manel Annappa Nayak, president of the Women’s National Education Society (WNES) and correspondent at MSNIM, Jeevandas Narayan, secretary of WNES (former Managing director, State Bank of Travancore, and presently additional independent director, Karnataka Bank Ltd), Kudpi Jagdish Shenoy, former president of WNES, and the institute director Dr Molly S Chaudhuri were present.
Assistant professor Archana Kamath, faculty coordinator, gave the welcome address and introduced the speaker. Dr Shilpi Saha, assistant professor, gave the vote of thanks. Sharanya G K, an MBA 2nd-year student, compered the programme.