Senior BJP leader and former Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Shanta Kumar today lamented that it was a matter of concern that India was not doing enough to curb corruption at a time when the world community was unitedly working against the menace.
alking to newspersons, Mr Kumar, who attended the UN Conference against Corruption recently at New York, said it was heartening to note that 126 of 148 signatory countries had ratified the UN Convention against Corruption in 2003 but India did not figure in that list of countries.
Mr Kumar, the BJP national Vice-President and Rajya Sabha MP, said with so many scandals coming to light, the year 2010 would be remembered as a year of scams. He hoped that 2011 will be a 'no-corruption year'.
He said his efforts to seek an answer from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the Rajya Sabha on why the UPA Government had not ratified the UN Convention, did not succeed. He could receive only a letter of ackowledgement from his Minister of State on the issue.
There were 69 tax haven countries, including Switzerland, accepting ill-gotten and looted wealth of the people, particularly from the autocratic rulers in developing countries, he added.
The BJP leader was surprised to know that Mr Matthias Bachmann, representing the Swiss Permanent Mission, had stated that his government had passed an Act in Parliament to facilitate the return of the ill-gotten 'stolen property'.
''It is a matter of surprise that such a statement was coming from a representative, believed to be a leading tax haven nation which has strict non-disclosure banking laws and has already ratified the Convention. They are willing to return the money to the countries but India has not made efforts to take back the money.'' Mr Kumar said the total 'black money' deposited by Indian nationals alone was worth Rs 77,000 lakh crore. Developed countries like the United States and Germany had made efforts to get the money illegally deposited outside their territory but India did not make any such honest effort.
Questioned about BJP's own problems in dealing with corruption in Karnataka, Mr Kumar, also incharge of BJP affairs in the state, said the party had formed an independent panel to go into the allegations of corruption levelled against Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa.
''It will be an objective inquiry and the matter is also being inquired into by the Lokayukta. Once the party gets these reports, the BJP will follow it up with appropriate decision,'' he added.
Asked about the corruption allegations in Uttarakhand, the leader said, ''Corruption is corruption wherever it occurred.
Wherever corruption is there, action will follow.'' The country should observe the year 2011 as a 'No-Corruption Year', he added.
Source: News Kerala
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