Kalam for commission to tackle corruption

President A P J Abdul Kalam today favoured the setting up of an independent commission to tackle corruption.

This was visualised as a body of officials from various government agencies for the strict enforcement of stringent laws.

"Corruption is the concern of our society, our youth, and, of course, government also. I believe a mission mode approach in elimination of corruption is essential. I am going to advocate (this) to my government," Kalam said during his speech and a question-answer session at CBI's 16th biennial conference of Anti-Corruption and Vigilance Bureaus of the country.

"The system can have convergence of all agencies to take decisions and execute (them). The idea only struck me a few days ago and I am working on it," he said.

Kalam said the idea came to him when he was surfing the internet to find a corruption-free country. "I got the information through internet about Hong Kong's experience," he said.

"Hong Kong, 40 years back, has been described as though it was what we witnessed in many areas in the Indian scene. But today, Hong Kong is free from corruption. I was told that this has (happened) through their one action of establishing a powerful independent commission against corruption," Kalam said.

"The independent commission worked on a three-pronged approach by strict enforcement of stringent laws, prevention of corruption and community participation against corruption through continuous education. This has resulted in virtual elimination of corruption in less than 10 years," he said.

Kalam said he was studying this example and its suitability for application in the Indian environment.

He said the people were dependent on systems and India needed to introspect on this dependency syndrome "which we have created".

"We need to remove these dependencies systematically and allow people to perform in a competitive environment in the global market. This will involve re-formulation of policies and procedures prevalent in the legislature, executive and judiciary keeping in mind the changing scenario of the world, challenges to be faced by the economic sector in the global competitive environment and meeting the aspirations of the people in providing a higher quality of life," Kalam said.

He said the investigation system had to build up its capacity in such a way that any crime committed against India or its assets by anyone from anywhere in the world could be detected.

Kalam said services like police, land administration, special services, municipal services and income tax have been found to be key problem areas.

"Personnel working in these departments must be provided with reasonable housing and transportation facilities including empowerment in their task. They should become accountable for services to be provided to citizens and also be penalised for wrong decisions," he said.

Kalam said if police action, court proceedings with minimal adjournments and fast judgements are provided within the prescribed timeframe, corruption could be ended in the country.