In a bid to check rampant corruption in the corporate sector, the government is all set to introduce new regulations that would make failure on the part of firms to prevent corrupt practices a punishable offence.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday said that the government was considering amendments to the Prevention of Corruption Act and the changes would also include corporate failure to prevent bribery as a new offence on the supply side.
“Experience has shown that big ticket corruption is mostly related to operations by commercial entities,” Singh said while addressing the annual conference of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and State Anti Corruption Bureaux, A clear and unambiguous definition for the term ‘corruption’, covering both the supply and demand sides, is being sought to be provided,? the PM added.
At the time when the UPA government has been hit by a series of scam, corruption charges and now the allegations of using his family clout to gain undue favours being made against the Congress chief’s son-in-law Robert Vadra, the PM said, ?Our government stands firm in its commitment to do everything possible to ensure probity, transparency and accountability in governance.?
Seen as the attempt to clear the air of negativity that has been surrounding the government, Singh said, ?the mindless environment of negativity and pessimism that is sought to be created over the issue of corruption can do no good.It can only damage nation’s image and hit at the morale of the executive.?
Singh said the economic reforms initiated in the early 1990s greatly reduced corrupt practices, associated with controls and the licence-permit raj.
“Faster economic growth led to newer opportunities for corruption, ones associated with specialisation and expansion of an economy,” he added. Despite the PM’s firm resolve to fight corruption, CBI director AP Singh indicated rampant corruption in the centrally-funded rural sector schemes.
?There’s no doubt that schemes such as MNREGA, NRHM and Pradhan Mantri Gramin Sadak Yojna have brought a measure of prosperity in rural areas, a more effective anti-corruption mechanism would help in getting this prosperity distributed equitably.?
