Stating that once powerful individuals who are being investigated for corruption are trying to malign enforcement agencies by casting aspersions on their credibility, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said that organisations like the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) should fearlessly continue with its task of freeing the country from this menace, which has been hampering democracy and development.
Speaking on the occasion of an event organised by the CBI to commemorate its diamond jubilee celebrations, the Prime Minister said, “The primary task of the CBI is to free India from corruption as that is what the country and its people want.”
Citing the attempts by certain sections to try and malign the CBI and other agencies in the wake of some powerful people, once part of the system, being investigated for corruption, the Prime Minister said that the agency should continue to focus on its investigations and ensure that “no corrupt person is spared.”
Lauding the efforts and the actions of the agency, the Prime Minister said, “Today there is no dearth of political will to take action against corruption in the country.” He asked officers to take action without hesitation against the corrupt, however powerful they may be. “There should be no laxity in actions against the corrupt, this is the wish of the nation, this is the wish of the countrymen, the country, law and constitution are with you,” the Prime Minister added.
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Stating that corruption had become an integral part of the system in the country till a decade back, the PM said that when the present dispensation took charge in 2014, “it attacked corruption as well as its root causes on a mission mode to reinstate the credibility of the government as people lost faith in the system.” He recalled bringing transparency in the processes of issuing government contracts and tenders and also highlighted the difference in 2G and 5G spectrum allocations.
“Corruption is not an ordinary crime, it snatches the rights of the poor, and is the biggest obstacle in the path of justice and democracy,” the Prime Minister asserted. “Corruption in the government system is the biggest hurdle in democracy and its first casualty are the youth whose dreams get massacred,” he said, adding that “a corrupt ecosystem is the biggest enemy of talent as it promotes nepotism and begets a dynastic system, tightens its noose around the system, erodes the nation's strength and obstructs development.”
The Prime Minister said that unfortunately, India had got a legacy of corruption at the time of Independence and lamented that “instead of eliminating it, some people continued to strengthen it further.”
Lauding the efforts of the institution over its 60-year journey, the PM said the CBI has earned its credibility through its investigations and has established itself as a brand that brings culprits to justice. “Whenever there is an incident of serious crime, there is a demand to hand over the case to the CBI,” the PM said.
Also, citing institutionalised corrupt practices of the past, the PM said that the corrupt would go to the extent of looting aid sent out to beneficiaries of government schemes. Be it rations, homes, scholarships, pensions or any other government scheme, the Prime Minister said, the original beneficiary would feel conned every single time.
“Even a Prime Minister once said, for every rupee sent out to the poor, only 15 paise reaches them,” Modi said. Giving the example of direct benefit transfer, the Prime Minister said that the government has so far transferred Rs 27 lakh crores to the poor and also pointed out that based on the one rupee 15 paise theory, Rs 16 lakh crores would have already disappeared. The Prime Minister remarked that beneficiaries are getting their full entitlement with the trinity of Jan Dhan, Aadhaar, and Mobile where more than 8 crore fake beneficiaries have been removed from the system. “Due to DBT, about 2.25 lakh crore rupees of the country have been saved from going into the wrong hands,” the Prime Minister said.
The Prime Minister also emphasised the need for an innovative approach to deal with cyber crimes. He suggested associating tech-enabled entrepreneurs and youngsters and better utilising tech-savvy young officers in the department. He complimented the CBI for compiling 75 processes and systems in the organisation that can be abolished and asked them to work on this in a time-bound manner. He asked that the process of evolution of the institution should continue tirelessly and called for identifying targets for the next 15 years when the CBI completes its platinum jubilee and also the targets to be achieved by 2047 when India celebrates 100 years of Independence.
