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Strong Lokpal top priority, says PM
Anita Katyal
Our Political Correspondent

PMspeak n Ruling alliance considering changes in the existing laws to make bribery in private sector a crime n CBI will continue to play a key role in our efforts for ensuring probity in public life

New Delhi, October 21
Under pressure to take urgent and effective steps to curb corruption, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said the UPA government has put the establishment of a Lokpal Bill and other anti-graft measures on top of its agenda.

Giving details about the steps which the government planned to take to check corrupt practices and ensure greater transparency in governance, the Prime Minister said the ruling alliance is considering changes in existing laws to make bribery in the private sector a crime. This move appears to have been triggered by the involvement of leading corporate houses in scams which have surfaced during the past year.

Delivering the inaugural address at the 18th Biennial Conference of the CBI and State Anti-Corruption Bureaux, the Prime Minister acknowledged that the recent agitation for the enactment of a Lokpal Bill has pushed the issue of cleaning up the country’s public life “right at the top of the agenda of our national priorities”

Hoping that a strong and effective Lokpal will be established in the coming months, the Prime Minister said, “Whatever be the structure and functions of the Lokpal when it is established, the CBI as our premier investigating agency will continue to play an important role in our efforts for ensuring probity in our public life.” His reference to the CBI comes in the backdrop of a demand from civil society activists that the CBI’s anti-corruption wing function under the proposed Lokpal but the government is opposed to this demand.

Hit hard by the growing public sentiment against corruption, a large part of the PM’s speech today was devoted to this issue. At a time when the Congress is facing the ire of Team Anna on the passage of the Lokpal Bill, the PM used this opportunity to reiterate that the UPA government is taking proactive steps to combat corruption.

India recently ratified the United Nations Convention Against Corruption which, the PM said, “will strengthen our anti-corruption efforts and facilitate international cooperation in trans-border cases of corruption.” In order to meet the requirement of this Convention, the government has already introduced a Bill in Parliament to make bribery of foreign public officials an offence, he pointed out.

In addition, the Prime Minister said the Centre was working on the ways and means to minimise discretionary powers of ministers and will introduce a new law to reduce irregularities in the government’s procurement policy. In an effort to expedite pending cases against public servants, it has been decided to prescribe a three-month deadline for granting sanction of prosecutions to requests from investigating agencies.

In order to reduce pendency of CBI cases, the PM said, the government has decided to set up a committee under a retired Supreme Court judge to review cases which are pending trial for more than 10 years and suggest ways for their speedy disposal.