India will ratify UN convention against corruption: Patil

“My government has also decided to ratify the United Nations Convention against corruption,” Patil said in her address at the beginning of parliament's budget session.

She said the Group of Ministers' report on measures to tackle corruption “is expected soon”, adding that the body was looking at “all measures, including legislative and administrative, to tackle corruption and improve transparency”.

“The Group will consider issues relating to the formulation of a public procurement policy and enunciation of public procurement standards, review and abolition of discretionary powers enjoyed by ministers, introduction of an open and competitive system of exploiting natural resources, fast tracking of cases against public servants charged with corruption and amendments to the relevant laws to facilitate quicker action against public servants,” said Patil, adding that a bill to protect whistleblowers has already been introduced in parliament.

She said the government was also considering state funding of elections.