Thaindian News

New Delhi, April 21 (IANS) Admitting that there was “growing feeling” amongst people that present systems were ineffective in dealing with corruption, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Thursday said he hoped to bring the more stringent anti-graft Lokpal (ombudsman) bill in the monsoon session of parliament.

Addressing bureaucrats of the country at a function here, Manmohan Singh stressed that his government was accelerating its efforts to create a systemic response to curb graft practices in India.

“Our aim is to strengthen the legislative framework, revamp administrative practices and procedures and fast track a systemic response to fighting corruption. A committee of ministers and representatives of civil society is at work to finalise the draft of the Lokpal Bill, which we hope to be able to introduce during the monsoon session of parliament,” he said.

He said a ministerial panel was also looking into the legal and administrative measures that could be taken to stop corruption.

“The group has a wide ranging mandate and I expect its recommendations to be available very soon.”

Manmohan Singh inaugurated the Civil Services Day being celebrated here. Top bureaucrats of the country at the day-long event will be putting their heads together to discuss ethics and transparency in governance, an issue that was highlighted this month by social reformer Anna Hazare and led to the formation of a joint committee of ministers and civil society to draft the Lokpal Bill.

The prime minister will later give away the ‘PM’s Award for Excellence in Public Administration’ for the year 2009-10. The function is being attended, among others, by Cabinet Secretary K.M. Chandrashekhar and Principal Secretary to the prime minister T.K.A. Nair.

Manmohan Singh asserted that “there is a growing feeling in the people that our laws, systems and procedures are not effective in dealing with corruption.

“We must recognise that there is little public tolerance now for the prevailing state of affairs. People expect swift and exemplary action and rightly so. Corruption is an impediment to faster growth, and hurts the poor most. It is a challenge we must tackle boldly and we stand committed to doing so.”

He said two bills relating to judicial accountability and protection of whistle blowers have already been introduced in parliament, and hoped that India would soon ratify the United Nations Convention on Corruption.

He said the government was committed to bringing more transparency in public procurement and to ensuring that disinvestment of public utilities and allocation of public resources are done in a manner that best safeguards the interests of the asset-owning public.