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The government has dropped its proposal to review its fight against corruption through a self evaluation study by independent experts in view of cold response from concerned agencies.
The Department of Personnel and Training, a nodal government department, had in May invited Expression of
Interest to undertake a self evaluation study to assess anti-corruption measures as part of a mandatory obligation after ratification of the UN Convention Against Corruption -- an international legal instrument to deal with corruption.
The offer, which was initially made on May 9, seeking feedback from concerned agencies within a month had to be extended following slack response. Later, it has been decided to close the EoI for want of a minimum of three qualifying applicants to proceed to the next stage, an official memorandum of the DoPT said.
The EoI was called from registered Indian law schools, law firms, academic or research organisations for the study.
UNCAC, which acts as a universal legal instrument to deal with the menace of corruption globally, was ratified by India on May 9 last year.
"A meeting will be held soon to decide on the future course of action," a DoPT official said.
As per the EoI, the task of the selected firm would be to find out whether Indian domestic laws are fully or partly compliant or non-compliant with the UN Convention.
A selected agency would also be mandated to find gaps and interact with ministries of Home Affairs, External Affairs, Law & Justice, Corporate Affairs; Central Vigilance Commission and CBI to gather inputs or clarifications while meeting requirements laid down under the UNCAC.
India is among the 160 nations which have either ratified or acceded to the UNCAC provisions.