As the world marks International Anti-Corruption Day today, under the 2025 theme “Uniting with Youth Against Corruption,” the resonance in Jammu and Kashmir is particularly sharp. For decades, the region’s administrative machinery battled a perception of deep-seated graft. Today, however, the narrative is shifting not just through slogans, but through the palpable, rattling knock of the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB).
The last quarter of 2025 has seen the ACB in hyper-drive. It is no longer just the low-level clerical staff feeling the heat. The registration of a Disproportionate Assets (DA) case against the Director of State Motor Garages in late November and the charge-sheeting of a scientist at the Pollution Control Committee this month signal a critical evolution: no rank is immune. The trap cases are becoming routine, with a Patwari in Udhampur caught red-handed just days ago, and a massive ₹35 lakh cash recovery in Samba last month. These aren’t isolated incidents; they are the drumbeat of a “zero-tolerance” policy in action.
Yet, arrests alone cannot scrub the system clean. The real antidote to J&K’s corruption malignancy lies in the quiet, systemic overhaul currently underway. The digitization of public services—mandatory e-tendering, the BEAMS portal for financial transparency, and PaySys—has done more to dismantle the “commission culture” than any single raid. By removing the human interface, the administration is slowly starving the corrupt of their opportunities.
However, a glaring gap threatens this momentum. Reports indicate over 360 vacancies within the ACB itself, spanning critical investigative and prosecution roles. We cannot expect a “Naya Kashmir” built on integrity if the very watchdogs guarding it are understaffed and overworked. An overburdened bureau risks delayed justice, where conviction rates falter even as arrests rise.
On this December 9, the message for J&K is clear. The crackdown is visible, and the fear of the law is returning. But to truly shape tomorrow’s integrity, the administration must fill its own ranks and empower the youth to refuse the “old ways.” The ACB has shown its teeth; now the system must give it the muscle to finish the bite.
