Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu calls for fight against corruption, flags off 'Vigithon'

Mumbai: Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu called for a fight against corruption at the grass-root level while flagging-off a marathon in the city to sensitise people on the issue.

'Vigithon: A run for corruption free India' was organised by public sector lender, Union Bank of India. "A unique way in which financial institutions like the Union Bank of India can contribute to fighting corruption, could be through the deployment of people's savings in development sectors which in turn can lead to increased wealth-earning opportunities and generate employment for the people," a statement quoting Prabhu said.

"Initiatives like the Vigithon can go a long way in educating the people about several instances of corruption and empowering them with the means to fight the problem," he added.

According to Prabhu, banks should also hold initiatives to fight against corruption "which should start at the grass-root levels".

The event by Union Bank is an attempt at bringing in all stakeholders together on a common platform to create sensitisation against corruption. Union Bank of India CMD Arun Tiwari said that "the need for increased vigilance for detecting instances of corruption and fighting against them should start from the self".

"We also plan to organise additional editions of this event across nine Union Bank of India Field General Manager's offices and invite officials from law enforcement agencies like the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Anti-Corruption Bureau to enlighten the staff on several issues of corruption," he added.

The run was organised as a precursor to the 'Vigilance Awareness Week', which is going to be observed from tomorrow till October 31.

Vigilance awareness week is observed every year since 2000 as per the guidelines of the Central Vigilance Commission. The objective of observing it is to reaffirm one's commitment to fight corruption and as a result enabling good governance in the country.

Several school children, common people, customers and employees of the bank participated in Vigithon.