New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi Monday said officers of the CBI, India’s premier investigating agency, should not be scared to take action against people who have been part of the government and the system for several years.
“I know that people against whom you are taking action are very powerful, they have been part of government and system for years. Even today, they are in power in some states, but you (CBI) have to focus on your work, no corrupt person should be spared,” he added.
Modi was addressing the diamond jubilee celebrations of the CBI. His remarks come amid the opposition’s attacks on what they describe as his government’s misuse of central investigation agencies to target political rivals of the BJP.
Modi said that before 2014 (the year the Modi government first came to office), there was a trend of “phone banking”, which saw “big industrialists secure huge loans with just a phone call, without verification, and then flee the country without repaying their debt”.
“We have pulled the banking system out of that mess where industrialists got loans just with a phone call. In that time, over Rs 22,000 crore was looted from the government. With our efforts, we have been able to seize properties worth Rs 20,000 crore to recover that money,” he said.
Taking a dig at the UPA (2004-14), Modi said that corruption ruined India’s economy before 2014 and led to policy paralysis.
“Ten years ago, most big decisions and schemes by the previous government came under question. So many big scams took place during that time but the accused were not scared because they had the system by their side in full support. There was a policy paralysis and this is why the general public lost faith in the system,” he said.
Since coming to power in 2014, he added, his government had “worked towards its mission to reinstate lost faith in government agencies” and action was taken in “mission-mode” to root out corruption and black money. “Today, we are looking at a trillion-dollar economy,” he added.
The event held at Vigyan Bhawan in Delhi was also attended by National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval, Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba, Minister of State (MoS) Jitendra Singh and CBI Director Subodh Kumar Jaiswal.
The CBI was established by a resolution of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Government of India, on 1 April 1963.
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‘Need to disband silos, agencies must work together’
Speaking at the event, PM Modi stressed that corruption is the “biggest enemy of talent and it is from here that nepotism and ‘parivarvad‘ get strengthened”.
Adding that things have changed for the better, and that the country is now on the path to development, he said the government has ensured utmost transparency, and the processes of allocation of 2G and 5G spectrum reflect its commitment in this regard.
Modi also said that the CBI has emerged as a “brand for justice” which has given hope to the common citizen. “The CBI has given hope and strength to the common citizen. People hold protests to demand CBI inquiry as the CBI has emerged as a brand for truth and justice, which is not an easy task,” he said.
Modi stressed that in the current scenario, the scope of the CBI’s work has expanded manifold, and that there is a need to expedite investigation into cases of corruption. He also said that there is a need for officers to study best international practices, learn from them, and build capacity to conduct complex investigations.
In the last six decades, the CBI has earned recognition as a “multi-dimensional” and “multi-disciplinary” investigation agency, he said, adding that it is important that all government agencies come together and the “silos in which they work are disbanded”.
“In today’s age, crime is a global occurrence. We need to be on top of studying the dimensions of crime and corruption and this will happen if all agencies work together. Moreover, use of forensic science for investigation has to be expanded,” he said.
Stating that investigations now require innovative solutions, Modi said agencies can employ “technology-enabled entrepreneurs” wherever required.
The Prime Minister also conferred the President’s Police Medal on 18 CBI officers for their distinguished service and awarded gold medals to three ‘Best Investigating Officers’, as is an annual practice.
In addition, he virtually inaugurated the newly-constructed CBI office complexes in Shillong, Pune and Nagpur, and launched the agency’s official Twitter handle, besides releasing a postage stamp and commemorative coin marking the diamond jubilee celebration.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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