A seminar on corruption conducted by the Legal Cell of the Lok Satta Party today, World Corruption Day, called upon people to cease to be silent spectators but fight against corruption by utilizing the Right to Information Act and not succumbing to inducements during elections.
The seminar called for constitution of independent anti corruption commissions at both the national and State levels, and amendment of the Prevention of Corruption Act in the State as proposed by the Lok Satta Party. Decentralization of power and transparency in administration would go a long way in preventing corruption, the seminar felt.
The participants, who included representatives of political parties and civic society organizations, decided to constitute an anti corruption force and expressed solidarity with Advocate Ranga Rao in his battle against corruption in the Emaar deal.
The participants included Messrs Tripurana Venkataratnam (Congress), C. Vinod Kumar and Pranay (TDP), Keerti and Shaheeda Begum (PRP), Kamalesh (BJP), Muralidhar Deshpande (Forward Bloc), Nagaraja Rao (Pragna Bharati), Aruna (Vikas Dhatri), P. Bhaskara Rao, N. Sarojadevi, M. Ramalinga Reddy, P. V. Rao, C. Vinod Yadav, M. Durga Kumar, Vijaya Kiran, Gajanani, Manik Prabhu, and Mangala (Lok Satta and its allied organizations) and Advocate Ranga Rao.
Initiating the debate, Legal Cell Convener C. V. L. Narasimha Rao said that failure to discharge one’s duty as a Government employee too was a corrupt practice. Corruption did not mean mere acceptance of a bribe. Mrs. T. Venkataratnam said that corruption had become vicious as politicians who spent crores of rupees in elections enriched themselves many times more once elected. Ms. Keerti and Shaheeda Begum expressed their shock over the 2-G spectrum scam, while Mr. Deshpande said parties should fight against corruption jointly. Mr. Bhaskara Rao said that people had become helpless as politicians, officials and judges had all become corrupt one after another over the years. He underlined the need for institutional mechanisms and people’s participation to mitigate corruption. Advocate Ranga Rao disclosed that he had obtained 650 documents under the Right to Information Act before launching his battle against the Emaar scandal. Ms. Aruna suggested implementation of citizen charters as a means of curbing corruption while Mrs. N. Sarojadevi recalled Lok Satta’s campaign against the 2-G spectrum.
