NEW DELHI, June 5:
The Government’s move to review its fight against corruption by independent experts has received a cold response as not many of them have expressed interest to undertake a self evaluation study.
Official sources said the Government has extended the last date for submitting a detailed proposal by this month-end from concerned agencies.
The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) had invited Expression of Interest (EoI) last month from registered Indian law schools, law firms, academic or research organisations to undertake the study which is a mandatory obligation of the country under the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC).
UNCAC, which acts as a universal legal instrument to deal with the menace of corruption globally, was ratified by India on May 9 last year.
“There has not been a favourable response from the concerned people. We have decided to extend the due date by four weeks, which is by the end of this month”, a source said.
However, when contacted a senior official dealing with the matter, wishing anonymity said a few agencies have requested for extension of the date, which was May 31 earlier, citing complicity and the wide gamut of responsibilities mentioned in the EoI.
As per the proposal, a selected agency will get 36 weeks for the project.
The task of the selected firm will be to find out whether Indian domestic laws are fully or partly compliant or non-compliant with the Convention. It would be expected to study, analyse and assess the requirements for compliance under the Convention by looking at the relevant documents.
The agency will also be mandated to find gaps and interact with ministries of Home Affairs, External Affairs, Law & Justice, Corporate Affairs; Central Vigilance Commission and CBI to gather inputs or clarifications while meeting requirements laid down under the UNCAC.
However, two major areas – bribery of foreign public officials and bribery in the private sector – will not be part of the proposed study.
UNCAC is an international legal instrument to deal with corruption and imposes obligations on member states to provide legal and administrative measures for facilitating recovery of assets in trans border corruption and among others, promoting international co-operation in combating trans-border graft through measures like mutual legal assistance, extraditions and joint investigations.
India is among the 160 nations who have either ratified or acceded to the UNCAC provisions. (PTI)
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