PM Modi also said trust and credibility are critical for a developed India

Too much dependence on foreign goods has been a big cause of corruption, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday.

Highlighting the government’s push towards atmanirbharta (self-reliance) in defence, he said that the possibility of scams was ending as India would be manufacturing its own defence equipment, from rifles to fighter jets to transport aircrafts.

He was speaking at the programme marking Vigilance Awareness Week of Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) in New Delhi on Thursday, where he also launched the CVC's new Complaint Management System.

Highlighting that trust and credibility are critical for a developed India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also said that people’s trust in the government enhances people’s self-confidence.

During his address, the Prime Minister lamented the fact that earlier governments not only lost people’s confidence but they also failed to trust people.

The legacy from the long period of corruption, exploitation, and control over resources, unfortunately, received more strength after the independence, he stated. According to Prime Minister Modi, this severely harmed at least four generations of this country. “We have to change this decades-long way fully in the Azadi ka Amrit Kaal”, the Prime Minister told the gathering.

Referring to his clarion call from the ramparts of Delhi's Red Fort for a decisive battle against corruption, Prime Minister Modi pointed out two key reasons for corruption and hindering people's progress - lack of amenities and unnecessary pressure from the government.

According to the Prime Minister, for a very long time, this absence of amenities and opportunity was deliberately kept alive and a gap was allowed to widen leading to an unhealthy competition of a zero-sum race.

Arguing that this race fed the ecosystem of corruption, he explained that corruption created by this scarcity affects the poor and middle classes the most. “If the poor and middle class spend their energy to arrange for the basic amenities, then how will the country progress?” the Prime Minister asked.

Prime Minister Modi pointed out that his government was trying to change this system of scarcity and pressure for the last eight years.

"The government is trying to fill the gap between supply and demand. The three ways adopted to achieve this are advancement in technology, taking basic services to the saturation level, and finally heading towards atmanirbharta," he said.

Prime Minister Modi also referred to the use of technology and said that linking the Public Distribution System (PDS) to technology and removing crores of fake beneficiaries and saving more than 2 lakh crore rupees from going to the wrong hands by adopting Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT).

Similarly, the adoption of transparent digital transactions, and transparent government procurement through GeM is making a huge difference, he added.