Replying to the debate on corruption in the Lok Sabha on Thursday, the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh said, this will, on the one hand maintain the supremacy of the Parliament and on the other, fulfil the demands of Anna Hazare.
The Prime Minister said that the points approved by the House from these documents will be sent to the Parliamentary Standing Committee for incorporating it in the Lokpal Bill.
Expressing concern over the health condition of Anna Hazare, Dr. Singh said, it is very precious and wished him a long and healthy life in the service of the country.
The Prime Minister asserted that Anna Hazare has registered his point and renewed the government’s pledge to bring a strong Lokpal bill to effectively deal with the menace of corruption.
Dismissing the opposition charges, the Prime Minister invited the Leader of the Opposition to inquire into his personal assets he collected in the public life of 41 years.
Dr. Singh gave the details of the measures taken by the government to deal with corruption and referred to his Independence Day speech in which he had enumerated the number of measures on the issue.
This, he said, includes public procurement act to make allocation of government contracts transparent.
Dr. Singh urged the members to come forward with suggestions to strengthen the public distribution system and devising methods free of malpractices.
The Prime Minister said that the menace of corruption can be eradicated only after active cooperation from the state governments who spend 50 percent of the Budget.
Tracing his track record as a Finance Minister, he said that he brought back Indian economy from the brink and today it is one of the fastest growing economies of the world.
The Prime Minister said that a number of measures taken by his government to liberalise the economy have yielded results, though he conceded that there may have been some deficiencies here and there.