Change habits to fight corruption: Rajnath Singh

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday urged people to change their habits to weed out corruption, saying procedural reforms were not enough to get rid of the problem.

Speaking at the release of a book, he said the Narendra Modi government's intent of tackling corruption cannot be questioned, as the PM has been putting in great efforts to deal with it. "In our personal interactions, the prime minister always emphasises that till corruption is not eliminated, how can we fight poverty and other issues?" Singh said.

To elaborate his point, he said that this government's first Cabinet meeting took a decision to form a SIT to bring back black money, as ordered by the Supreme Court. "It is true that till corruption is present, it is not possible to achieve the development target we have set. And we need to accept this reality that when income disparity increases, so does social unrest, which is a matter of concern for all of us," the Union Home minister said.

"But I do not believe that by only reforming or changing procedures can corruption can be stopped. Besides procedural reforms, tendency also needs to be changed," he said.

The change in mindsets can be brought through education and people from whom others can draw inspirations, Singh said. He even urged NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant and others to work to bring in this change.