Ultimate aim is to usher in corruption free society: Dr Jitendra
Excelsior Correspondent
NEW DELHI, Nov 3: Showing unflinching support to anti-corruption agencies, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said they “need not be defensive” while tackling graft even when some people with “vested interests” keep hollering and maligning them.
Addressing the ‘Vigilance Awareness Week’ organised by the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), the Prime Minister exhorted the panel, other agencies and officers to ensure that the corrupt should not be spared no matter how powerful the individual may be.
He said it is the responsibility of organisations like the CVC that no corrupt person gets “political or social refuge”.
“Every corrupt person should be held accountable by the society. It is important to build such an atmosphere. We are seeing that paeans are being sung for people already proven corrupt. People calling themselves honest do not feel the shame to go and get photographed with such corrupt people. This situation is not good for the Indian society,” he said.
Without taking any names, Modi said people are glorifying corrupt people and advocating for awards to them.
“Agencies like CVC working against corrupt and corruption need not be defensive. If you are working for the welfare of the country, there is no need to live in guilt.
“We do not have work on a political agenda, but it is our duty to eradicate problems faced by the common man of the country. People with vested interests will holler, they will try to strangulate the institutions and try to defame dedicated people sitting in these institutions,” he said.
In his 24-minute speech, the Prime Minister also asked the vigilance community to think about modernising their audits and inspections.
“The will which the Government is showing against corruption, the same will is necessary to be seen in all the departments. For a developed India, we have to devise such an administrative ecosystem which has zero tolerance on corruption,” he said.
Citing his own experience, Modi said during his long tenure as head of the Government, he has gone through mud-slinging and abuses, but “people stand with you when you walk on the path of honesty”.
He said the legacy of corruption, exploitation and control over resources that the country got from long periods of colonialism continued post independence as well.
He said eight years of his Government has tried to change that by reforming the systems and introducing transparency.
There were two important reasons which held back the country and promoted corruption in the country — scarcity (abhaav) of facility and pressure (dabaav) from the Government, he said.
He said for a very long time, this absence of amenities and opportunity was deliberately kept alive and a gap was allowed to widen leading to an unhealthy competition of a zero-sum race.
“… This race nurtured the ecosystem of corruption,” he said.
Modi rued that such grassroots corruption affected the poor and middle class which spent all its energy in getting these facilities and benefits.
“We are trying to change this system created by scarcity and pressure, and fill the gap between demand and supply,” he said listing out measures taken by his Government during the last eight years like Direct Benefit Transfers, Government e Marketplace, weeding out of fake beneficiaries from PDS, digital transactions, among others.
The Prime Minister said reaching every eligible beneficiary of any government scheme and achieving the goals of saturation puts an end to discrimination in society while eliminating the scope of corruption.
He said too much dependence on foreign goods has also been a big cause of corruption.
Principal Secretary, Dr. P. K. Mishra, Minister of State for Personnel & Parliamentary Affairs, Dr. Jitendra Singh, Cabinet Secretary, Central Vigilance Commissioner, Suresh N. Patel and Vigilance Commissioners P K Srivastava and Arvinda Kumar were those present on the occasion.
In his welcome address to Prime Minister, Union Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Dr Jitendra Singh said, the ultimate aim for any civilised nation is to usher in corruption-free society and this precisely is the goal of the Government headed by PM Narendra Modi.
Dr Jitendra Singh said, the roadmap to a developed India definitely lies in striving for a corruption free nation and a multipronged strategy of preventive, punitive and participative vigilance coupled with high integrity and moral values constitute the holistic approach for the way forward.
Dr Jitendra Singh said, this Government through its program of digitisation has focused on improving delivery of service leveraging technology and the Central Vigilance Commission has also adopted the strategy of leveraging technology to prevent corruption and organizations are being persuaded to adopt e-procurement, e-payment systems and to disclose all vital information on their websites. He said, this free and unrestricted access to information is an antidote to corruption and added that use of technology and e- Governance have proved to be powerful tools specially in removing corruption in the delivery of public service.
Taking note that the Vigilance Awareness Week being observed throughout the country, Dr Jitendra Singh said, this week provides a great opportunity for Government organizations to interact with all stakeholders, including vendors, customers, Gram Panchayats, Resident Welfare Associations, Civil Society Organizations and most importantly students at schools and colleges. He further added that interaction with them ensures that the idea of corruption free society percolates down to the grassroot level and it also provides opportunity to receive valuable inputs from them about the shortcomings in the system of administration, so that the service delivery mechanism can be improved to the satisfaction of the common citizen.
Dr Jitendra Singh said, preventive action in the long run is often more efficient, effective, and sustainable and therefore the good part of the strategy on combating corruption should be renewed focus on Preventive Vigilance. He said, the systemic changes in the Governance mechanism through transparency and accountability would do a lot to reinforce citizens’ faith in administration. The Minister underlined the need for preventive strategies like simplification of rules and procedures and devising SOPs as more effective methods to curb corruption.
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