Delhi's anti-corruption helpline gets huge response

The Delhi government's anti-corruption helpline Thursday received "incredible response" with almost 4,000 calls within a few hours of it being launched, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said.

"Till 3 p.m., we received 3,904 calls. We did not except such a huge response. This was beyond expectations" Kejriwal told media persons here.

The helpline operates from 8 a.m. till 11 p.m. daily.

However, due to the deluge of calls, only 824 calls could be responded to, he said.

Of the calls, 53 were of serious corruption cases, he added.

Kejriwal said people have conducted "quality" sting operations for which he congratulated them.

He said 38 people agreed to conduct sting operations while 15 refused to do so.

The number of people attending to the calls will be doubled and so will the number of telephone lines, he said.

"We had to increase the number of seats (people) from 10 to 15 when 200 calls were received in the first hour. From tomorrow (Friday), the seat and channels (phone lines) would be doubled," Kejriwal said.

The helpline was launched with 30 lines.

Kejriwal Wednesday announced the helpline number - 2735 7169 - which he said will help trap government employees who demand bribes.

He also said that a shorter and easy-to-remember four-digit number would be available to people by Saturday.

Asked about audio recordings not being deemed as evidence in courts, Kejriwal clarified that "sting is a supportive evidence and trap is the main thing".

The chief minister refused to share the location of the helpline centre, saying he did not want the call centre to be accessible to corrupt officers as they can start manipulating the workers there.