Set up panel to check corruption: Assocham

Industry body Assocham today suggested setting up an integrity and ethics commission on the lines of the Planning Commission and the Election Commission to check corruption in the country.

“Assocham proposes an integrity and ethics commission,” newly-elected Assocham president, Dilip Modi, told reporters here, adding corruption was worse than cancer, as it destroyed the confidence of people.

The suggestions for such a commission comes at a time when top industry players are hurling allegations against each other and Parliament’s winter session was washed out due to a standoff between the government and the Opposition over the 2G spectrum controversy.

The Assocham chief also said most of the corruption was emanating from the requirement of the funds for the election.

“We are planning to submit a proposal (to the government) that elections, Central or state, should be funded by the Centre because election funding is the main source of corruption in our country,” Modi said.

The chamber has appointed an expert committee to develop code of ethics to be signed and adopted by the corporate India.

On the country’s economic performance, Modi said the gross domestic product was likely to expand by over 9 per cent this financial year.

The government has revised its GDP growth forecast to 8.75 per cent. The economy has shown recovery from the impact of the global financial slowdown that hit in 2008 and India’s GDP had grown at 8.9 per cent in the first half of the current financial year.

He further said, in future, India was going to face seven key imperatives, including multiple risk in arranging funds, shortfall in skilled manpower, poor infrastructure and increasing trade imbalance.

Assocham would work in areas like human resource, education, technology, small and medium enterprises, foreign inflows and rural development, he said.