New Delhi, Nov 2 (IANS): Union Minister Jitendra Singh on Monday once again emphasized on PM Modi's "Zero Tolerance to Corruption" mantra. He claimed that in 2014, when the Modi government came to power, the common man was troubled by corruption.

He said that there was an atmosphere of despair and disillusionment and the common man felt that there was no escape from the cycle of corruption. "The Modi Government has successfully transformed the then pervading pessimism to optimism. In pursuance of the Prime Minister's mantra of "Zero Tolerance to Corruption" a number of decisive steps were taken by the government to combat corruption," he said.

While addressing officials, Singh, who is the Minister of State for Personnel, said that the celebration of the Vigilance Awareness Week is a reiteration of the Government's resolve to continue the crusade against corruption.

He cited the example of the Prevention of Corruption Act amendment after a gap of 30 years to make the processes more equitable and reduce opportunities for corruption. Singh also stressed that the Centre has abolished interviews for Class "C" and "D" posts.

The Lokpal was made functional in 2018. Further, the Central Information Commission and the DARPG have successfully scaled up disposal of cases.

"The National Recruitment Agency which will conduct the common eligibility test will provide a level playing field for employment opportunities in lower level jobs," said a government statement. Singh said that the government has walked the talk in its fight against corruption.

A round table discussion on the theme "Satark Bharat, Samriddh Bharat" (Vigilant India, Prosperous India) was also held by the Department in line with the activities for the occasion. The round table was addressed by former Cabinet Secretaries Prabhat Kumar and Ajit Seth, former Secretary of DOPT C. Chandramouli and Secretary DARPG K. Shivaji.

The round table discussion focused on key issues of preventive vigilance in the pursuit of "Naitik Bharat" which included training in ethics of public service, social audit of ethical practices, development of measurable metrics for corruption and the disproportionately high impact corruption has on governance.

The minister also administered the integrity pledge to officials of the Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances.

On this occasion, Singh launched the DARPG's "Ideas Box on Good Governance Practices in a Pandemic" and released Social Media tweets on the "Best Practices in e-governance".