New Delhi: Members of the global anti- corruption initiative have called for various measures including strengthening of public service delivery system and seamless sharing of intelligence among investigating agencies to check graft.
The two-day seventh regional conference of the Asian Development Bank and Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development which concluded here today devised a five-point agenda for member countries to follow. "The conference reinforced the increasing recognition that corruption harms everyone in the society, particularly the weaker sections of the society and, therefore, all societal organs - governments, big corporates, small and medium scale enterprises and the civil society - have a role to play in tackling it," an official statement said.
The conference also emphasised the need for strengthening of existing legal frameworks to meet new challenges, measures for strengthening e-governance and creation of strong information networks to provide seamless access to investigating agencies, both within and across borders.
Besides, increasing transparency, competitiveness and accountability in public procurements by improving procurement frameworks and use of modern information technology and to encourage private sector and civil society in the fight against corruption were others measures agreed upon by the participants.
The conference was inaugurated by President Pratibha Patil and was attended by experts from the 28 member countries and economies of the ADB/OECD anti-corruption initiative and nearly 200 national and international global experts from business houses and civil society among other government officials.
PTI