Govt open to reasoned debate on Lokpal Bill: PM

With Team Anna stepping up the heat on the corruption issue, the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, today said the Government was open to reasoned debate on the Lokpal Bill but made it clear that there was no single solution to tackle the problem.

“We have introduced the Bill in Parliament which is now before the Standing Committee. There are differences of views on details of the Bill,” Dr Singh said at the golden jubilee function of the Indian Institute of Management here.

“We have made it clear that all individuals concerned should convey their concern on different aspects of the Bill to their representatives in Parliament and to the Standing Committee," he said.

Dr Singh said, “We are open to a reasoned debate on all these issues".

No magic wand

Recalling his Independence Day address, Dr Singh said, “I said (in my speech) that there is no magic wand that can solve the problem in one stroke. There is no single solution. We need to act on multiple fronts."

He said that the creation of Lokpal as an institution would help but it would not solve the problem. “It needs to be supported by improvements in the pace and quality of judicial processes."

He said that corruption has not disappeared from the system and it surfaces in many forms.

“The aam aadmi faces corruption when he has to pay a bribe to facilitate ordinary transactions with the Government," the Prime Minister said.

“There is also corruption on a larger scale. Large government contracts can breed corruption when Government procedures are inadequate," he said.

He said that strong procedures were needed to eliminate corruption and the Government was serious to remove it.

“It is a mistake to see corruption as a consequence of economic liberalisation and reforms," Dr Singh said, adding, “any area which has actually seen systematic reforms has seen disappearance of corruption”.

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