Chandigarh: Stating that corruption in public life had implications that were wide-ranging and multi-dimensional, Vice-President M. Hamid Ansari said the challenge was to comprehend and confront the issue in its totality.
“Corruption is as much moral as a development issue,” he said while delivering the P.N. Haksar Memorial Lecture at the Centre for Research in Rural and Industrial Development here. “It tends to distort the decision-making processes on investment projects and other commercial transactions,” he added.
Referring to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s remarks where he said that public corruption was a source of concern for all those interested in building a new India, Ansari said such a statement was indicative of how serious the problem was.
He said corruption increased injustice and disregard for the rule of law and as such, it had to be viewed as a symptom of fundamental weaknesses in institutions concerned. The correctives therefore, he added, needed to focus on a set of fundamental institutional determinants.
Citing the first report of the Ethics Committee of the Rajya Sabha, Ansari said views were being expressed over the general decline in moral and ethical standards in public life. He said while quoting the report: “In such a situation, the representatives of the people have to set high standards of behaviour in public life. They not only have to represent the society but also have to lead,” he added.
CPI general secretary, A.B. Bardhan said people had forgotten values and there was turmoil all around. Bardhan said the Left wanted friendship with the US, but not at the cost of being subservient to the latter’s interests.
Haryana Governor Dr A.R. Kidwai, Punjab Governor Gen S.F. Rodrigues (retd), Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Punjab Finance minister Manpreet Badal were also present on the occasion.
Vice-President M. Hamid Ansari (second from left) along with Haryana Governor Dr A.R. Kidwai (left), Punjab Governor Gen S.F. Rodrigues (retd) and Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda (right) after releasing the Fourth Volume of the Haksar Memorial Lecture in Chandigarh on Friday. Tribune photo: Vinay Malik
Source: TNS