Strict anti-graft measures in 12th plan: Montek
Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia on Monday said the plan panel would introduce special mechanisms in the upcoming plan to bring greater transparency in economic policy making, especially in allocation of scarce resources.
"The focus is on the fact that there is corruption. It is no longer hidden in India. It has come out and the government is reacting to this," Ahluwalia told reporters on the sidelines of the golden jubilee celebrations here of the Indian Economic Service.
He said the government would pay special attention to governance and transparency during the upcoming plans.
"In the approach paper to the 12th plan, we have a whole chapter on governance which addresses a number of issues, like corruption relating to government contracts and problems that arise because of discretion in allocation of scarce resources," said Ahluwalia, adding that the emphasis would be on how to identify, investigate and prosecute the wrong doers.
India targets 9 per cent economic growth during the 12th Five Year Plan, that runs from 2012-13 to 2116-17.
Asked whether corruption scandals would hurt India's growth story, he said: "Actually we are becoming a stronger candidate for faster growth because we have identified the problems and are in the process of laying out a mechanism to deal with it."
He said while institutions like Lokpal and Lokayukta would help in improving the overall environment, much broader range of intervention would be needed to reduce corruption from the system.
"We need a much broader restructuring of our ways of doing things so that we reduce the likelihood of corruption emerging and when it emerges, we must strengthen the mechanism that will enable us to find out who is at fault and take speedy corrective action," Ahluwalia said.
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