Few takers to assess government's fight against corruption?

 New Delhi, June 5, 2012 : The Government's move to review
its fight against corruption by independent experts has
received a cold response as not many of them have expressed
interest to undertake a self evaluation study.
     Official sources said the government has extended the
last date for submitting a detailed proposal by this month-end
from concerned agencies.
     The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) had
invited Expression of Interest (EoI) last month from
registered Indian law schools, law firms, academic or research
organisations to undertake the study which is a mandatory
obligation of the country under the United Nations Convention
Against Corruption (UNCAC).
     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.
     "There has not been a favourable response from the
concerned people. We have decided to extend the due date by
four weeks, which is by the end of this month", a source said.
     However, when contacted a senior official dealing with
the matter, wishing anonymity said a few agencies have
requested for extension of the date, which was May 31 earlier,
citing complicity and the wide gamut of responsibilities
mentioned in the EoI.
     As per the proposal, a selected agency will get 36 weeks
for the project.
The task of the selected firm will be to find out whether
Indian domestic laws are fully or partly compliant or
non-compliant with the Convention. It would be expected to
study, analyse and assess the requirements for compliance
under the Convention by looking at the relevant documents.
     The agency will 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.
     However, two major areas - bribery of foreign public
officials and bribery in the private sector - will not be part
of the proposed study.
UNCAC is an international legal instrument to deal with
corruption and imposes obligations on member states to provide
legal and administrative measures for facilitating recovery of
assets in trans border corruption and among others, promoting
international co-operation in combating trans-border graft
through measures like mutual legal assistance, extraditions
and joint investigations.
India is among the 160 nations who have either ratified
or acceded to the UNCAC provisions.