Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday, Aug 12, said the highest impact of corruption is borne by the poor and the marginalised and asserted it (corruption) affects resource utilisation, distorts markets, impacts service delivery and ultimately diminishes people’s quality of life.
Addressing the G20 Anti-Corruption Ministerial Meet at Kolkata via video-conferencing, the PM cautioned against greed as it prevents “us from realising the truth”.
Addressing the gathering, the Prime Minister welcomed dignitaries to the city of Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore. Referring to the writings of Tagore, Modi cautioned against greed as it prevents us from realising the truth.He also touched upon the Upanishads that strive for ‘Ma Gridha’, which translates to ‘let there be no greed’. Referring to Kautilya in Arthashastra, the PM said it is the government’s duty to enhance the state’s resources to maximise the welfare of its people. “India has a strict policy of zero tolerance against corruption,” the Prime Minister remarked as he underlined that India is leveraging technology and e-governance to create a transparent and accountable ecosystem.
He mentioned that leakages and gaps in welfare schemes and government projects are being plugged. As a result, the Prime Minister said hundreds of million people in India have received direct benefit transfers into their bank accounts amounting to more than 360 billion dollars helping save over 33 billion dollars.