“Today there is no dearth of political will to take action against corruption in the country. You do not have to hesitate and stop. I am aware that action has been taken against people who have been very powerful for many, many years as they were part of the government and the system. Over many years, they have made an ecosystem, which covers their wrongful activities and they got active to tarnish your image,” Modi mentioned, addressing a gathering at an occasion to mark the diamond jubilee celebrations of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) right here.

“These people will keep distracting you, but you have to focus on your work. No corrupt person should be spared,” he mentioned. “This is the wish of the country, this is the wish of the people of the countrymen. I am assuring you that the country, law and Constitution are with you.”

“Unfortunately, India got a legacy of corruption at the time of Independence and… instead of removing it, some people kept nourishing this malady,” the Prime Minister mentioned.

“Corruption is not an ordinary crime, it snatches the rights of the poor, it begets many other crimes, corruption is the biggest obstacle in the path of justice and democracy,” he mentioned. “Corruption in the government system hampers democracy and the first casualty are the dreams of the youth as in such circumstances a certain type of ecosystem flourishes by killing talent.”

“Corruption promotes nepotism and a dynastic system which erodes the nation’s strength, seriously hampering development,” he mentioned.

Recalling the scams a decade in the past, the Prime Minister mentioned, “The situation led to destruction of the system and an atmosphere of policy paralysis brought development to a standstill.”

He mentioned after his authorities took cost in 2014, a number of measures have been taken to clamp down on corruption.

“After 2014, the priority of the government was to instill faith in the system and, for this, the government started taking action against black money, benami property in mission mode and started inflicting damage on the corrupt as well as the reasons behind the corruption,” Modi mentioned.

“We also brought transparency in the process of issuing government tenders and there is a difference now in 2G and 5G spectrum allocations. GeM (Government eMarketplace) Portal has been established to ensure transparency in making purchases in every department of the central government,” he mentioned.

He additionally talked about the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, which has to date enabled confiscation of properties value Rs 20,000 crore belonging to fugitive offenders.

“We have seen the phone banking era before 2014 as well. It was at that time when in the Capital, on the phones of the politically powerful, people would easily get loans worth lakh-crores. It damaged our banking system altogether. Over the past years, we have put a lot of effort in retrieving our banking sector out of this crisis. In that era of phone banking, some people robbed the banks to the tune of Rs 22,000 crore and ran away to foreign countries,” he mentioned.

The Prime Minister additionally mentioned the corrupt would go to any extent to loot the help despatched out to beneficiaries of presidency schemes. “Be it rations, homes, scholarships, pensions or any other government scheme, the original beneficiary would feel conned every single time. Even a Prime Minister once said, for every rupee sent out to the poor, only 15 paise reaches them,” he mentioned.

Praising the premier investigating company, he mentioned, “Through their work and skills, the CBI has instilled trust among the common citizens of the country. Even today, when an unsolvable case comes, a common accord emerges asking for the case to be handed over to the CBI. The CBI is like a brand for truth and justice.”

The Prime Minister additionally inaugurated the newly constructed workplace complexes of the CBI in Shillong, Pune and Nagpur, and launched a postage stamp and commemorative coin to mark the company’s diamond jubilee celebration 12 months.

Among these current have been Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and CBI Director Subodh Kumar Jaiswal. The CBI has advanced from an company combating corruption to a multidisciplinary investigative and prosecuting organisation of worldwide reputation, Jaiswal mentioned.