Common man most hit by corruption

Chief Justice of India Justice K G Balakrishnan on Saturday said the common man 'is hit hard by deep-rooted corruption' in the country and indicated that the public distribution system (PDS) was in shambles.

Corruption's victim was the common man, who had no mechanism to redress his grievances, he said inaugurating the ninth All-India Lokayuktas/Lokpals/Upalokayuktas Conference 2007 here.

"It (corruption) is deep-rooted. We are not able to curb corruption in public life for various reasons," Justice Balakrishnan lamented, adding "beneficiaries" of corruption were blocking efforts to curb the menace.

He said that in some states not a single grain reaches the common man. He asked as to how long will this poverty continue. People should be sensitised and educated otherwise corruption will continue.

He said that good governance is required in the country. "Every citizen is entitled to have good governance. We should have good governance in all walks of life".

"Because of corruption and non-action of police, people have started to take law in their hands," he said.

In a message to the two-day conference, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said his government was committed to the policy of zero tolerance while dealing with corruption.