Effecting systemic changes in our ecosystem and overhauling of administrative structures as well as strict enforcement of rules of law are crucial to strike at the root of corruption. This was stated by Mr K V Chowdary, Central Vigilance Commissioner, at the Seminar on Facilitating a Corruption free environment for achieving high growth organized by CII and Vigilance Study Circle (Delhi & NCR) at New Delhi.
Citing practical examples in areas such as ports, insurance, banks, land records etc, he spoke at length about how the opaqueness in the system spawned opportunities for corruption and encouraged intermediaries to thrive in the economy. There was a demand side as well as the supply side to corruption which needs equal attention when it comes to addressing corruption. Public procurement is an activity which is highly prone to corruption and has a serious impact on economy and industry, he said.
According to Mr Chowdary, while one of the preventive strategies to fight corruption is to leverage the use of digital technology and automation, this in itself is not enough. This step needs to be complemented by improvement in governance structures which would bring transparency and accountability in the economy. Further, a free, fair and competitive market reduces scope for rent-seeking and discourages corruption. At the same time, measures to deal with corruption should be participative in its approach involving the contribution of all stakeholders. Inculcating the values of ethics and integrity would also help in reducing corrupt practices.
Mr Kiran Karnik, Chairman, CII National Committee on Telecom & Broadband and Mission on Digital India and Former President, NASSCOM, in his keynote address, spoke of two types of corruptions-exploitative and collusive. He said that corruption was anti-competitive, companies which bribed got an undue advantage over other suppliers. It is competition that we need to promote which would help to control corruption. And competition is required in all sectors of the economy.
According to Mr Karnik ‘It is better to try and plug the leak in a sinking boat rather than to keep bailing out water, especially if the hole is getting bigger. Few will disagree that it is wiser to root out the cause, instead of merely tackling the symptoms. Yet, much of the movement against corruption has focused only on tackling the symptoms, the manifestation, and not on how to eradicate the cause itself’. He spoke about use of technology especially digital economy to root out corruption from the system. Computerisation of land records is a long-standing example of the effective use of technology. Digitization, a central data base and the ability to get an authenticated print-out of ownership from multiple points have together made the process easy and corruption-free, he said.
In his address, Mr M Radha Krishna , President, Vigilance Study Circle (Delhi & NCR), spoke on the origins of the study circle and said that a massive program has been started in India to eliminate corruption. Technology will play an important part in curbing corruption and this would cover e-procurement, e-payments etc. Many of the major programmes are using mobile application. He also spoke about the vigilance awareness week where the focus was on public participation in eliminating corruption. Many people have taken a pledge not to be involved with corruption. In a subject like corruption everybody should contribute to the effort.
Mr Salil Singhal, Co-Chairman, CII Agriculture Committee in his welcome address spoke of CII Initiatives to bring in transparency in operations, the CII Model Code of Conduct containing six basic principles have been adopted by many companies, He also spoke of the need for urgent action to facilitate business through ease of doing business and expressed the hope that within the next 3 years, India ‘s position in the World Bank ranking would be within 50. Mr Singhal added that there should be a strong education programe on values and ethics in the schools and colleges.
New Delhi
5 December 2016