At a time when his decisions as coal minister between 2006 and 2009 are being investigated by the CBI on the charges of irregularities, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday called for moderation in the public debate over corruption as much of it is trivialisation of complex public policy issues, accompanied by an unwarranted condemnation of the decisions taken.
Addressing the golden jubilee celebrations of the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), the Prime Minister said it was an ultimate aim of any anti-corruption mechanism to contribute towards improvement of the processes of governance and delivery of services which can happen only when bold and innovative decision-making was encouraged.
“While informed discussion on such matters is certainly desirable, much too often we see a trivialisation of complex public policy issues. This is accompanied by unwarranted condemnation of the decisions taken and imputation of guilt and malafide on the part of those who took those decisions. I sincerely think there is a need to change this state of affairs,” Singh said
But Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj who spoke before the PM, made it clear that such thinking was not good for democracy.
President Pranab Mukherjee, who spoke after the PM, called for introspection on how corruption can be eliminated.
{{/usCountry}}President Pranab Mukherjee, who spoke after the PM, called for introspection on how corruption can be eliminated.
{{/usCountry}}“There is urgent need to restore the faith of our people in our governance system and the credibility of our institutions,” said Mukherjee.
CBI director Ranjit Sinha said that whenever there was a crisis situation and he was asked to act as a police officer, nobody asked him to do things according to the rule of law.