On India’s request, a G20 working group on fighting corruption will discuss how graft impacts women. The role of audit institutions and attempts to build a consensus on a common definition of economic offenders are also among the topics that will be discussed at the second G20 anti-corruption working group meeting scheduled to begin in Rishikesh on Thursday, Union Minister Jitendra Singh said on Wednesday.
The Minister said that India is organising a unique event on exploring ‘G20’s perspective on synergizing gender sensitivity with anti-corruption strategies’ on Thursday on the sidelines of the second G20 ACWG meeting.
India would highlight its own experiences where anti-corruption efforts have helped in the empowerment of women, he said.
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S. Radha Chauhan, Secretary, Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT) said the meeting will focus on how G20 countries can come together and build an informational as well as an operational framework for networking, sharing information and preventing the creation of safe havens that fugitive economic offenders can exploit.
The Minister said India will seek deepening of G20 commitment towards countering corruption globally.
He said India has adopted a firm position on preventing economic offenders from fleeing the country and taking refuge in other friendly countries with liberal laws.
Mr. Singh recalled that in 2018, during Argentina’s G20 Presidency, Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave a Nine Point Agenda for Action Against Fugitive Economic Offences and Asset Recovery to the G20.
The Minister added that the G20 countries committed to explore the links between corruption and other economic crimes and ways to tackle them, including through cooperation on the return of persons sought for such offences and stolen assets, consistent with international obligations and domestic legal systems. “G20 countries affirmed to continue practical cooperation to fight corruption and deny safe haven to persons sought for corruption and their proceeds of corruption. This is the concern of all the G20 countries and therefore, we expect substantial agreement on proposals of India,” he said.
The Minister further said that India is also preparing a compendium of good practices of G20 ACWG members regarding enhancing the role of auditing in tackling corruption. This would help in addressing the cross-cutting issue of the importance of collaboration of Supreme Audit Authorities with anti-corruption bodies, to increase transparency, accountability, regulatory adherence and efficiency in public finances. It is a unique step in taking forward India’s priority of strengthening the fight against corruption.
