Karnataka - Mangalore   

Lokayukta must have more powers: Hegde

N. Santosh Hegde

THALASSERY: Karnataka Lokayukta and former Supreme Court judge N. Santosh Hegde has said that corruption is a major threat to democracy in the country.

Inaugurating a seminar against corruption in public life organised by the District Court Bar Association in association with M.K. Nambyar Memorial Trust here on Sunday, Mr. Hegde said that corruption, which was earlier confined to politics and bureaucracy, was now prevalent in every profession. The Lokayukta should fight corruption, he said, adding that people should pressure the State governments to give Lokayuktas more powers and infrastructure. Only a few States had implemented the recommendations of the first Administrative Reforms Commission.

“Corruption can be controlled if at least one person keeps an eye on administrative functioning. The public have lost respect for most institutions because some functionaries in them suffer from a disease called greed which is malignant and infectious,” he said, adding that the treatment for the disease was not working.

Referring to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's statement that there should be zero tolerance towards corruption, he said that the country suffered from systemic failure. Former Communications Minister Sukh Ram had been caught with crores of unaccounted rupees in 1996 and sentenced by a special court in 2010. “If it takes that much time in the trial court, when will the corrupt in India be punished?” he asked.

Despite the Swiss government's readiness to return black money stashed away in Swiss bank accounts, nothing had been done till recently, the Lokayukta said. The interest from the money if deposited in banks in India was enough to meet the administrative expenditure in 592 districts in the country, he pointed out. He said that as the Lok Ayukta of Karnataka, he had seen people who could not afford one meal a day being cheated. “The Lok Ayukta Act in Karnataka empowers me to supervise the administration in that State and we have converted our office into a grievance-redressal office,” Mr. Hegde said.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Government keen on increasing enrolment in colleges, says Acharya
Lokayukta must have more powers: Hegde
Getting ready for big stage
Chess school talents shine
Rabindra Sangeet in miniature format
Fight for education, students urged
MCC unable to recover water bill arrears
Praveen all set to be Mayor

Copyright © 2011, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu