Thiruvananthapuram | The Kerala government will be coming out with a new vigilance manual to ensure those involved in corruption cases do not escape punishment, state Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala informed the assembly on Tuesday.

Chennithala said that the current vigilance manual was formulated in the 1960s and the time is long gone for making changes to it.

"I assure the House that before the next session of the assembly, a new manual will be released," he said in response to a query by Congress MLA Jyothikumar Chamakkala.

He also referred to the "Project Zero" anti-corruption initiative of the vigilance department that was launched on May 26.

"Within three days of launching the initiative, a DySP-rank officer was caught taking a bribe and suspended," he said.

The minister further said that the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) was taking strict action across the state to realise the aim of a corruption-free Kerala.

Chennithala further said that due to an amendment brought in the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA) by the Narendra Modi government at the Centre, sanction for prosecution is required from the appointing authority of the person accused of graft.

"It is a major problem across India and hinders the action to be taken against those accused of corruption. This is very dangerous to anti-graft activities," he contended.

"This has led to many corruption cases not moving forward, not just in Kerala, but across India, due to lack of sanction," he said and claimed, "inordinate delay also leads to corruption".