Highest impact of corruption is borne by poor, marginalised: PM Modi at G20 meet

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said the highest impact of corruption is borne by the poor and the marginalised and asserted it corruption affects resource utilization distorts markets impacts service delivery and ultimately diminishes peoples quality of lifeAddressing the G20 AntiCorruption Ministerial Meet via video conferencing the PM cautioned against greed as it prevents us from realising the truthAddressing the gathering the Prime Minister welcomed dignitaries to the city of Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore Referring to the writings of Tagore Modi cautioned against greed as it prevents us from realising the truthHe also touched upon the Upanishads that strive for Ma Gridha which translates to let there be no greedReferring to Kautilya in Arthashastra the PM said it is the governments duty to enhance the states resources to maximize the welfare of its peopleIndia has a strict policy of zero tolerance against corruption the Prime Minister remarked as he underlined that India is leveraging technology and egovernance to create a transparent and accountable ecosystemHe mentioned that leakages and gaps in welfare schemes and government projects are being plugged As a result the Prime Minister said hundreds of million people in India have received direct benefit transfers into their bank accounts amounting to more than 360 billion dollars and helping save over 33 billion dollarsThe Prime Minister informed that the government has simplified various procedures for businesses and gave the example of automation and digitization of government services that have eliminated rentseeking opportunitiesOur Government eMarketplace or GeM portal has brought greater transparency in government procurement he addedSpeaking about the enactment of the Economic Offenders Act in 2018 the Prime Minister said the government is aggressively pursuing economic offenders and informed about the recovery of assets worth over 18 billion dollars from economic offenders and fugitivesHe also mentioned the Prevention of Money Laundering Act which has helped attach the assets of offenders worth more than 12 billion dollars since 2014The Prime Minister recalled speaking on the challenges of fugitive economic offenders for all G20 countries and the Global South in his very first G20 Summit in 2014He also mentioned presenting a ninepoint agenda for action against Fugitive Economic Offenders and Asset Recovery at the G20 Summit in 2018 and expressed happiness that decisive steps are being taken by the working groupHighlighting the importance of timely asset tracing and identification of proceeds of crime the Prime Minister stressed the need to encourage countries to enhance their domestic asset recovery mechanismsModi suggested that G20 countries can set an example by using nonconvictionbased confiscations to expedite the recovery of foreign assets and said that it will ensure swift return and extradition of criminals after the due judicial processIt will send a strong signal about our joint fight against corruption he emphasizedThe Prime Minister asserted that the collective efforts of G20 nations can significantly support the fight against corruption and a huge difference can be made through enhanced international cooperation and implementation of robust measures that address the root causes of corruptionModi also highlighted the role of audit institutions in the fight against corruptionConcluding the address the Prime Minister urged the dignitaries to foster a culture of ethics and integrity in the value systems along with strengthening administrative and legal systemsOnly by doing so can we lay the foundation for a just and sustainable society I wish you all a productive and successful meeting the Prime Minister concludedThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever