The CAG, CBI and CVC are not responsible for policy paralysis in the country, Vigilance Commissioner J.M. Garg said on Tuesday, rejecting criticism of the three agencies during the UPA-II government.
Speaking on a summit on corporate frauds here, Mr. Garg blamed erosion of values and high ambitions among corporates to join the “billion-dollar club” by taking short cuts for corruption in the country and stressed on the need to strengthen the regulatory mechanism.
“Three Cs — CAG, CBI and CVC — are representative together. People don’t invite us together. They are taken in the absolutely negative sense and people say that perhaps they are the ones causing policy paralysis in this country. Let me tell you this that it is not so,” he said.
Many central ministers have on a number of occasions spoken against the role of CAG, CBI and CVC in auditing and investigating government’s decisions for alleged corruption saying that it was leading to policy paralysis.
Mr. Garg said the problem of corporate frauds which is taking place in almost all spheres including education, sports and financial sectors is very huge and there was a need for strengthening regulatory mechanism to check it.
“When we look at the reasons, the first and foremost we find is that over a period of time say in last 50 years, the value system in the society has been eroded. And it is getting reflected in our individual behaviour and corporate behaviour,” he said, addressing 8th annual summit on corporate frauds organised by industries body ASSOCHAM here.
Referring to corruption, he said erosion of value has become an accepted norm of the society.
“A corporate, which sets up a company or industrial unit ten years ago, now they want to join the billion-dollar club within a short span. Now this is the kind of ambition our people are having in the private sector.
“If we give a good bye to the value system and badly short circuit the system by bribing the people to get maximum advantage and benefits, I think that is one of the reasons today why we find scams which are being unearthed,” he said.
The Vigilance Commissioner also said that Enforcement Directorate (ED) was effecting only meagre recovery of stolen assets.
“If somebody tries to look at the way fraud is being committed, ultimately the money is not recovered. Nobody knows where the money has gone.
“And even ED under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the recovery which they are doing in stolen assets is very meagre as compared to the money which is going out of the country, which is nothing but the illegal money,” Mr. Garg said suggesting the need to speed up the recovery of stolen assets by such bodies.
Mr. Garg said it is because of corruption through evasion of taxes that huge amount of money is going out of the country.
The CVC has been promoting and asking everyone to have risk management system and better internal controls to plug loopholes. “The supervisory system has really gone out of control. It is very lax. Then we have problem of regulation.
The regulatory mechanism itself in the country today needs to be strengthened,” Mr. Garg said.
He said the country and its people need to attack the root cause of the frauds which is the chnge in the value system.
Besides, Mr. Garg said there is a need to check rising financial inequality among people.
“About 80 crore Indians live on less than USD two per day. This kind of inequality in the system is not only the responsibility of the governments, that is state government and central government, but it is the responsibility of all citizens and corporates. They have to play good roles....
“If you don’t do that, let me caution you that you will find huge unrest in the country which you are already seeing (as to) what is happening in Middle East, African countries, South America and Europe, which we cannot afford in a democratic system,” he said.
Mr. Garg also appreciated big corporates such as Reliance, Birla and Tata for generating employment opportunity in the country.
“Instead of exploiting each other, let us join each other for building this country and reducing its inequality gap,” he said seeking greater coordination among industrialists and public officials.
