New Delhi: Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu on Friday acknowledged existence of corruption at various levels in his ministry and said the government is determined to weed it out through stringent action and putting in place a transparent system.
"There have been instances, allegations, complaints of corruption about corrupt practices at various levels...One of the memebers of the Railway Board is under suspension. I agree that we need to take corrective steps," Prabhu said replying to questions in Rajya Sabha.
He acknowledeged the existence of corruption and corrupt practices in areas including award of contracts and employment. He also admitted to instances of hoodwinking of people.
Prabhu said his ministry is trying to put in place a system in all award of contacts and introduce "utmost transparency" in other areas including appointments.
"We have implemented utmost transparency. We need to change the whole system...There is corruption at various levels...But we are committed to do everything to weed out corruption," Prabhu said.
"We need to take very stringent measures. We have sought the services of former CAG Vinod Rai... He is my Advisor. We will take as many steps as possible in as many areas as desirable to prevent corruption," the minister added.
In order to prevent hoodwinking of people, he said, the Railways have started a web-based interactive redressal mechanism where one can lodge a complaint using mobile. Update of the complaint can also be tracked.
Prabhu said corruption generally prevails if the system is susceptible to it.
