PM passes on corruption buck to India Inc
11 Oct 2012 2:01 AM GMT
Amidst the controversy over alleged financial indiscretions committed by the Congress president Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra and the realty major DLF, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh tried to seize the moment on Wednesday by making the corporates an equal party in cases of corruption. He said that the government was considering making changes in the Prevention of Corruption Act to include 'corporate failure to prevent bribery, as a new offence'.
The India Against Corruption [IAC] leader Arvind Kejriwal had alleged that the Haryana government had allotted land meant for a hospital to DLF to set up a special economic zone [SEZ], in which Vadra later got a 50 per cent stake.
Inaugurating the annual conference of the Central Bureau of Investigation [CBI] and state anti-corruption bureaus at the Vigyan Bhawan, he admitted gaps in the existing law. He said, 'Experience has shown that in a vast majority of cases, it is difficult to tackle consensual bribery and the supplier of the bribe goes scot-free by resorting to the provisions of the act. Also, big-ticket corruption is mostly related to operations by commercial entities. This would be taken care of in the proposed amendments.' He added, 'Amendments to the Prevention of Corruption Act are being proposed with the purpose of filling gaps in the legislation and brining it in line with international practises.'
With his government facing flak on the corruption issue from the opposition and civil-society activists, Singh said, 'A clear and unambiguous definition of corruption is being sought to be provided through amendments, covering both the supply and demand sides.'
Taking potshots at the opposition and the civil society, Singh said, 'The mindless atmosphere of negativity and pessimism that is sought to be created over the issue of corruption can do us no good. It can only damage the nation's image and hit the morale of the executive.'
Singh said that his government was firm in its commitment to do everything possible to ensure probity, transparency and accountability in governance. 'I would like to stress upon the need to protect honest public servants and keep the morale of the executive intact. I have said this in the earlier conferences also, but I think this is something worth repeating,' he said.
'While investigating corruption cases, the importance of making a distinction between bonafide mistakes and deliberate abuse of power cannot be over emphasised,' he said.
Singh also listed direct-cash transfers for benefits and subsidies as a new method to minimise corruption, leakages and wastage. 'We have recently put in place an institutional architecture to facilitate a shift to a system in which benefits from the government would get transferred directly to the bank accounts of individuals beneficiaries.'
The Prime Minister also said the economic reforms initiated in the early 1990s greatly reduced corrupt practices, associated with controls and the license-permit raj.
TARGETING CORPORATES
Â
Big-ticket corruption is mostly related to operations by commercial entities. This would be taken care of in the proposed amendments
The government is committed to doing everything possible to ensure transparency and accountability, but the negativity and pessimism sought to be created over the issue of corruption could do no good
A clear and unambiguous definition of corruption is being sought to be provided through amendments to plug gaps in the Prevention of Corruption Act and bringing it in line with international practices
I would like to stress upon the need to protect honest public servants and keep the morale of the executive intact
The India Against Corruption [IAC] leader Arvind Kejriwal had alleged that the Haryana government had allotted land meant for a hospital to DLF to set up a special economic zone [SEZ], in which Vadra later got a 50 per cent stake.
Inaugurating the annual conference of the Central Bureau of Investigation [CBI] and state anti-corruption bureaus at the Vigyan Bhawan, he admitted gaps in the existing law. He said, 'Experience has shown that in a vast majority of cases, it is difficult to tackle consensual bribery and the supplier of the bribe goes scot-free by resorting to the provisions of the act. Also, big-ticket corruption is mostly related to operations by commercial entities. This would be taken care of in the proposed amendments.' He added, 'Amendments to the Prevention of Corruption Act are being proposed with the purpose of filling gaps in the legislation and brining it in line with international practises.'
With his government facing flak on the corruption issue from the opposition and civil-society activists, Singh said, 'A clear and unambiguous definition of corruption is being sought to be provided through amendments, covering both the supply and demand sides.'
Taking potshots at the opposition and the civil society, Singh said, 'The mindless atmosphere of negativity and pessimism that is sought to be created over the issue of corruption can do us no good. It can only damage the nation's image and hit the morale of the executive.'
Singh said that his government was firm in its commitment to do everything possible to ensure probity, transparency and accountability in governance. 'I would like to stress upon the need to protect honest public servants and keep the morale of the executive intact. I have said this in the earlier conferences also, but I think this is something worth repeating,' he said.
'While investigating corruption cases, the importance of making a distinction between bonafide mistakes and deliberate abuse of power cannot be over emphasised,' he said.
Singh also listed direct-cash transfers for benefits and subsidies as a new method to minimise corruption, leakages and wastage. 'We have recently put in place an institutional architecture to facilitate a shift to a system in which benefits from the government would get transferred directly to the bank accounts of individuals beneficiaries.'
The Prime Minister also said the economic reforms initiated in the early 1990s greatly reduced corrupt practices, associated with controls and the license-permit raj.
TARGETING CORPORATES
Â
Big-ticket corruption is mostly related to operations by commercial entities. This would be taken care of in the proposed amendments
The government is committed to doing everything possible to ensure transparency and accountability, but the negativity and pessimism sought to be created over the issue of corruption could do no good
A clear and unambiguous definition of corruption is being sought to be provided through amendments to plug gaps in the Prevention of Corruption Act and bringing it in line with international practices
I would like to stress upon the need to protect honest public servants and keep the morale of the executive intact
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