The concern over the rising cases of corruption in government at home found an echo in the United Nations. The senior Bharatiya Janata Party [BJP] leader L K Advani, while addressing the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday, said that corruption needed to be tackled on a war footing and stressed on the need to ensure transparency and accountability in governance. His speech was released in the public domain by the BJP office later in the day.
'While this problem afflicts both developing and developed world, its consequences are more severely felt in the developing countries, where it undermines the delivery of services and impact the people directly,' said Advani. Raising the issue of black money, the BJP leader said that it slowed down the economic growth of a country and appealed that the UN Convention Against Corruption be ratified by all countries, so that money stashed abroad through corrupt practices could be recovered.
The BJP leader also hailed the employment scheme of the government of India. Praising the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme [MGNREGA], he said that this scheme was the largest work programme in the world and it catered to the needs of 53 million poor rural households by ensuring them 100 days of employment per year. 'This programme has helped break down social inequalities, empower rural people, build up rural infrastructure and receive economic growth,' said Advani.
Advani's comment were predictably appreciated back home by the home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, who thanked the BJP leader for praising the government scheme. 'The opposition and the government should enjoy such bonhomie all the time,' said the home minister.
However, his colleague in the Congress Renuka Chowdhury's comment created a stir. She said, 'Advani is perhaps trying to convince the BJP. His view point is different from the BJP. If Advani is saying this today it is good.' The BJP apparently was not pleased with this jibe and took on the Congress leader.
'It is unfortunate that the Congress has said this. It has gone bankrupt on ideas and does not understand protocol and decency. Advani is representing India at the UN. He has made a point about good schemes here. We may have differences here but abroad one praises what the country has gone ahead with,' BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said.
The opposition party maintained that it was not opposed to the idea of job guarantee as done under MNREGA but had issues with its implementation. 'We have even asked for job guarantees to the city population but it should create economic assets. A similar scheme in Maharashtra way back in 1972 had led to building of check dams and water bodies. We want more coverage, more inclusion and more man-days of work under MNREGA,' Javadekar said.
'While this problem afflicts both developing and developed world, its consequences are more severely felt in the developing countries, where it undermines the delivery of services and impact the people directly,' said Advani. Raising the issue of black money, the BJP leader said that it slowed down the economic growth of a country and appealed that the UN Convention Against Corruption be ratified by all countries, so that money stashed abroad through corrupt practices could be recovered.
The BJP leader also hailed the employment scheme of the government of India. Praising the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme [MGNREGA], he said that this scheme was the largest work programme in the world and it catered to the needs of 53 million poor rural households by ensuring them 100 days of employment per year. 'This programme has helped break down social inequalities, empower rural people, build up rural infrastructure and receive economic growth,' said Advani.
Advani's comment were predictably appreciated back home by the home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, who thanked the BJP leader for praising the government scheme. 'The opposition and the government should enjoy such bonhomie all the time,' said the home minister.
However, his colleague in the Congress Renuka Chowdhury's comment created a stir. She said, 'Advani is perhaps trying to convince the BJP. His view point is different from the BJP. If Advani is saying this today it is good.' The BJP apparently was not pleased with this jibe and took on the Congress leader.
'It is unfortunate that the Congress has said this. It has gone bankrupt on ideas and does not understand protocol and decency. Advani is representing India at the UN. He has made a point about good schemes here. We may have differences here but abroad one praises what the country has gone ahead with,' BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said.
The opposition party maintained that it was not opposed to the idea of job guarantee as done under MNREGA but had issues with its implementation. 'We have even asked for job guarantees to the city population but it should create economic assets. A similar scheme in Maharashtra way back in 1972 had led to building of check dams and water bodies. We want more coverage, more inclusion and more man-days of work under MNREGA,' Javadekar said.