Ahead of vigilance awareness week, President Pranab Mukherjee calls for corruption to be treated like disease

New Delhi: Corruption affects the growth of a nation and needs to be treated like a disease, President Pranab Mukherjee has said emphasising on generating awareness on its evils. [caption id=“attachment_2465954” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Pranab Mukherjee. PTI[/caption] “Corruption affects the growth of a nation, reduces the government’s income and creates inequalities in distribution of income and wealth. It is a major factor hindering development. It is critical that awareness is generated and public opinion developed on the evils of corruption,” he said in his message on vigilance awareness week to be observed across the country from October 26. Mukherjee said corruption needs to be treated like a disease and focus should be on prevention. “It is appropriate that the Commission has adopted the theme of ‘preventive vigilance as tool of good governance’ for the current year. The measures adopted for preventive vigilance would help not only reduce corruption but also contribute towards good governance by way of increasing efficiency, transparency and adherence to rule of law,” the President said. Vice President Hamid Ansari said preventive vigilance can ensure that acts of corruption do not take place. “It is important to create awareness among government departments, institutions and general public to implement preventive measures effectively, so that transparency and accountability can be maintained in governance and corruption eliminated at every level,” he said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his message, said the theme chosen by Central Vigilance Commission for this year’s vigilance week “shall help highlight the importance of preventive vigilance in curbing administrative malpractices, and providing good governance”. The CVC (Central Vigilance Comission), which is organising this annual programme, said that cooperation of all stakeholders is imperative in creating and promoting a culture of integrity, transparency and accountability, which would help fulfil the expectations of the citizens for a corruption-free society. “Corruption is one of the factors inhibiting governance and preventive vigilance can play a prominent role in ensuring good governance. Good governance plays a vital role in promoting economic development of the country and well being of the citizens,” it said. Preventive vigilance is package of measures to improve systems or procedures aimed at eliminating the scope of corruption and to aid the management to achieve optimum results. Identifying complex rules or procedures and simplifying the same, curtailing discretions, ensuring accountability, sensitising the officials, facilitating a culture of honesty and promoting ethical practises, etc are some of the measures, the CVC said. The Commission believes that good governance can be promoted by putting in place strong preventive vigilance measures, it said. A report on observance of vigilance awareness week, from October 26 to 31, needs to be sent to the CVC by November 30, by all departments and organisations, the anti-corruption watchdog has said. PTI