New Delhi,
Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday said procedural reforms were not enough to root out corruption, but people also had to change their habits to eliminate the menace.

Releasing a book titled ‘On the Trail of the Black’, he said the intention of the Narendra Modi government on corruption could not be questioned and that the Prime Minister was trying hard to root it out from the country.

“In our personal interactions, the Prime Minister always emphasises that till corruption is not eliminated, how can we fight poverty and other issues,” Singh said.

The Prime Minister’s decision in this government’s first cabinet meeting to form an SIT to bring back black money, as ordered by the Supreme Court, showed his intent to end corruption, he said.

“It is true that till corruption is present, it is not possible to achieve the development target we have set. And we need to accept this reality that when income disparity increases, so does social unrest, which is a matter of concern for all of us,” the Union Home minister said.

The Modi government is fighting corruption through the Benami Property Act and the Centre has also saved Rs 65,000 crore by introducing DBT. E-tendering and e-procurement were also implemented, he said.

On the discussion over digitisation and procedural changes, he said, “I think, as much as possible, procedural reforms will be made by us to minimise corruption.

“But I do not believe that by only reforming or changing procedures corruption can be stopped. Besides procedural reforms, tendency needs to be changed,” he said.

The change in mindsets can be brought through education and people from whom others can draw inspiration, Singh said.

He urged NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant and others, who were present on the occasion, to work to bring change in people’s habits.

Singh said though moral education was being taught at some institutes, he felt it had not brought much change in a person’s character and morals.

There cannot be a “definitive definition” of corruption, he said.

Chairman, Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, Bibek Debroy, who edited the book along with his Officer on Special Duty (OSD), Kishore Desai, moderated a panel discussion.