Says while petty cases get tackled quickly, the ‘big fish’ often escape punishment
“The pervasive corruption in our country tarnishes our image. It also discourages investors, who expect fair treatment and transparent dealings when dealing with public authorities. As the country grows and integrates with the world economy, corruption continues to be an impediment to harnessing the best of technology and investable resources,” the PM said at the 17th biennial conference of CBI and State Anti-Corruption Bureaus.
Singh also asked the CBI and other officers to change the feeling in the country that “while petty cases get tackled quickly, the ‘big fish’ often escape punishment”. “This has to change. Rapid, fair and accurate investigation of allegations of corruption in high places should remain your utmost priority. The nation expects you to act firmly, swiftly and without fear or favour,” he said.
As the PM had identified the return to high growth rate as the biggest task for the second United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, his message today also shows concern over this obstacle on the revival path. Maintaining that corruption distorts the rule of law and weakens institutions of governance, Singh said it was hurting the economic growth “in a variety of ways”.
“Important projects, which have huge externalities for growth, do not get implemented in time, and when they do get finished, they are often of a poor quality. Inflated project costs consume scarce national resources which could have been better used in other important areas in the service of our people,” he said.
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While his government has launched a host of programmes aiming the poor, the PM today especially mentioned how the poor were hurt because of corruption. “We have some of the most ambitious and wide-ranging programmes to help the poor and the marginalised sections of our society. But, there is a constant refrain in public discourse that much of what the government provides never reaches the intended beneficiaries.
Just two weeks ago, at a meeting of the chief ministers on internal security, the PM as well as Home Minister P Chidambaram had hauled up the chief ministers of Nagaland and Manipur for rampant corruption in their states. An annoyed Chidambaram later told the media that it was disturbing to see even government officials were forced to give a part of their salaries to the local insurgents regularly.
While emphasising that this “malaise” should be treated immediately and effectively, Singh also made it clear that there was “no single remedy”. “The battle has to be fought at many levels. The design of development programmes should provide for more transparency and accountability. Systems and procedures which are opaque, complicated, centralised and discretionary, are a fertile breeding ground for the evil of corruption. They should be made more transparent, simpler, decentralised and less discretionary”, he asserted.
The PM also hinted that some recommendations of the Second Administrative Reforms Commission would be adopted soon to curb corruption. “It has given a wide range of recommendations. I am told that these have been examined in great detail and it should be soon possible to take a decision on many of these recommendations of the Administrative Reforms Commission.”