“Don’t Hesitate To Act Against Corrupt”: PM Modi Speaks At CBI’s Diamond Jubilee Event

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New Delhi: There is no dearth of political will today to act against corruption and officers should take action against the corrupt, however powerful, without any hesitation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday.

Addressing a gathering at the diamond jubilee celebrations of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the prime minister said corruption is the biggest roadblock to democracy and justice and the agency’s key responsibility is to free India from it.

It is the desire of the people of the country that no corrupt should be spared, he said.

He said those who benefitted from corruption for decades have created an ecosystem which attacks the probe agencies. But the agencies should not to be deterred by stories about power of the corrupt and their ecosystem to tarnish them.

“These people will keep distracting you, but you have to focus on your work. No corrupt person should be spared. There should be no laxity in our efforts. This is the wish of the country, this is the wish of the people of the country. The country, law and constitution are with you,” the prime minister said.

“Today there is no dearth of political will to take action against corruption in the country,” Modi said and asked officers to take action against the corrupt, however powerful, without any hesitation.

Referring to international transactions and the movement of people, goods and services on a large scale even outside geographical boundaries, Modi said that India’s economic power is growing while those who create obstacles are also rising.

He warned that attacks on India’s social fabric, its unity and brotherhood, its economic interests and institutions will also increase.

“Corruption money will be spent on this,” he said as he stressed the need to understand and study the multinational nature of crime and corruption.

Modi said India got a legacy of corruption at the time of Independence and lamented the fact that instead of removing it, some people kept nourishing this malady.

He said that while a discussion on trillion dollars refers to strong economy these days, a decade ago when the CBI celebrated its golden jubilee such figures were used to describe scams in the country.

“There was a competition going on who will set a new record of corruption,” he said, adding the scams and the prevailing sense of impunity led to the destruction of the system and an atmosphere of policy paralysis brought development to a standstill.

He said that while Internet banking and UPI stand in stark contrast to the earlier “phone banking” malaise where loans worth thousands of crores of rupees were sanctioned on the basis of phone calls from influential people.

The beneficiaries scooted away with the public money, the prime minister said. He said the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act has so far enabled the confiscation of Rs 20,000 crore worth of properties of fugitive offenders.

Modi said the corrupt would even go to the extent of looting the aid given to beneficiaries of government schemes, be it rations, homes, scholarships or pensions, and the original beneficiary would feel conned every time.

“Even a prime minister once said that for every rupee sent out to the poor, only 15 paisa reache them,” he said.

Modi said the beneficiaries of government schemes are now getting their full entitlement with the trinity of Jan Dhan, Aadhaar and Mobile where more than eight crore fake beneficiaries have been removed from the system.

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