Hon’ble Vice President of India Shri Mohammad Hamid Ansari,
National Security Advisor, Cabinet Secretary, Member of Planning Commission, Members of NHRC;
Director, CBI, Shri Vijay Shanker;
Central Vigilance Commissioner Shri Pratyush Sinha;
Secretary to Govt. of India,
Director, Intelligence Bureau;
former Directors of CBI,
former Directors of IB,
Members of the family of Shri D.P.Kohli,
Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen;

         1. It gives me great pleasure to be here today as we pay homage to the memory of late Shri D.P.Kohli, the founder-Director of CBI. He was a visionary law enforcement officer and a gentlemen to the core. It is befitting that CBI organises a lecture in his honour every year. I am very glad that I am able to share this moment with all of you.

         2. CBI prides itself and, rightly so, to be the premier investigating agency of the country, capable of successfully investigating highly complicated and challenging crimes. It is possible only because of collective efforts by its officers and men - from the Director to the Constable. The dedication, sincerity and hard work that goes into solving complicated crimes is really laudable. And to celebrate that excellence, CBI has instituted awards for Best Head Constable, Best Investigating Officer and Best Prosecuting Officer, which are given away every year.

         I congratulate Shri Mahendra Singh for having been adjudged the Best Head Constable for the year 2008 for his excellent work. I hope, he would emerge as a role model for his colleagues to emulate. I am sure, this will go a long way in motivating the functionaries of the Agency to perform even better.

         3. As Director CBI has mentioned, I took over the charge of the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Administrative Reforms, just a few weeks back, but all along while in the Government or in Parliament, I have always admired the good work done by CBI under most trying circumstances. Our Government is committed to give complete functional autonomy to CBI and it will be the endeavour of my Ministry to provide all necessasry resources to CBI to meet its professional challenges.

          4. I have the special privilege to welcome the Hon’ble Vice President of India on this occasion. In his long and distinguished career as a diplomat, Shri Ansari has set high standards for others to emulate. He has made notable contributions in the field of education and social causes. Mr. Vice President, Sir, we are honoured by your gracious presence. On behalf of everyone prersent here, I thank you for sparing your valuable time. I am sure, your advice and words of wisdom will benefit us all.

          5. The theme of this year’s lecture is ‘Enemy within - corruption, development and governance". For a fast developing economy like ours, its relevance can not be over emphasised, for good governance and rule of law is a necessary condition for growth and development. Good governance in East Asian countries was a major contributor for their superior economic performance. Direct linkage between good governance and economic and social progress is now, indeed, a key building block of national development.

          6. Today, Indian Economy has achieved an impressive growth rate of 9% per year. This makes us one of the fastest growing economies in the world. And we hope to better that in coming years. We are increasingly being recognized as a global power. The 21st century truly belongs to India.

          7. On the other hand, there are a number of challenges that we have to address quickly. Poverty, unemployment, low growth of agricultural sector, basic aminities like safe drinking water, education and basic health to our people are issues of concern. The recent inflationary trends and steep rise in prices of food items that impact on the poor people directly, are a cause of concern and they have to be tackled urgently.

          8. The UPA Government has launched a number of ambitious schemes and programmes such as Bharat Nirman, National Rural Health Mission, National Horticulture Mission, Indira Awas Yojana, Urban, Sarva Siksha Abhiyan, Mid-day Meal Scheme. Our Government enacted the Right to Information Act in 2005, to make information easily available to all segments of society. In 2006, our government also brought into force the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme in 200 districts. This month it is being extended to the whole country.

         9. However, corruption in our country is the limiting factor for faster development. Corruption flourishes because of the one of the following reasons - (i) scarcity of goods and services; (ii) red tape and delays; (iii) lack of transparency in our systems; (iv) inefficacy of the criminal justice system and tribalism or brotherhood of the corrupt people to support each other. These causative factors need to be removed to minimize the scope of corruption. Public servants of all categories have the legal and moral mandate to lead a life of probity and transparency. Side by side, the mechanisms of Govt. need to be suitably modified for bringing about greater transparency in the systems. Above all, the law enforcement has to be fair and impartial but stringent so that the corrupt elements do not escape the clutches of law.

         10. In its endeavour to improve governance and the administrative machinery, UPA Govt. has constituted Second Administrative Reforms Commission with wide ranging terms of reference which include organizational structure of the Govt. of India with focus on revisiting and re-defining the role of the Ministries and Departments in the context of evolving role of governance and, more importantly, on the ‘Ethics in Governance’ - for strengthening pro-active vigilance to eliminate corruption and, wherever necessary, limiting executive discretion. The Administrative Reforms Commission has submitted a number of reports including the one on ‘Ethics in Governance.’ The Govt. is examing the report and the measures suggested by the Commission for elimination of corruption would be duly considered for suitable executive/legislataive action.

         11. The role of CBI and the Anti-Corruption Agencies in the elimination of corruption can hardly be over-emphasized. I am aware that no Agency can perform at an optimal level and produce the desired results unless the work- force is highly motivated and necessary infrastructure and technology is in place. Moreover the functionaries of the Agency need to be imparted necessry training and professional skills for cracking increasingly complex and complicated crimes. In fact, constant upgradation of the investigating methods, tools and technologies is the need of the hour. I assure the CBI that the required resources will be placed at the disposal of the agency to achieve its organizational goals. I take this opportunity to reiterate the same. I am told that construction of the state -of-art CBI Hqrs. building costing about Rs.140 crores has started just now. I expect the Hqrs. building to be completed as early as possible. I assure you that resource constraint will not be allowed to come in the way of this project. The Govt. has also taken steps to improve housing facilities for CBI personnel. Additional resources have also been provided to CBI for e-governance. I am sure, CBI under the guidance of the present Director Shri Vijay Shanker will set new standards in combating corruption. I assure the Agency of my full co-operation in its fight against corruption in public life.