Indian PM Manmohan Singh vows to fight corruption

BBC News, 16 February 2011

Related Stories

• India's coalition - then and now
• The big money lurking behind India's 'telecoms scam'
• Commonwealth Games probe launched

The Indian prime minister has vowed to crack down on corruption, after a series of high-profile scandals.

Manmohan Singh said wrongdoers would not be spared

Manmohan Singh said an impression had gone round that India was "a scam-driven country", and this was not in anyone's interest.

The Congress-led government has been accused of losing billions of dollars by underselling telephone licences.

There were also serious allegations of corruption in preparations for last year's Commonwealth Games.

"An impression has gone round that we are a scam-driven country and nothing good is happening in our country, that we are weakening the self-confidence of the people of India," Mr Singh told a press conference shown live on news channels across India.

"I do not think that it is in the interest of anyone in our country," he said.

"I wish to assure the country as a whole that our government is dead serious in bringing to book all the wrongdoers, regardless of the positions they may occupy."