Thiruvananthapuram: India's federal defence minister A.K. Antony, also a former chief minister of Kerala, said corruption and red-tape were hindering the efficient delivery of government services to the people.
Antony made the statement on Saturday while inaugurating the supply of subsidised rice. He said the delay in delivery of government services and poor quality of delivery of the services were contributing to the public protests against corruption.
Delhi has been rocked by the anti-corruption agitation led by activist Anna Hazare over the past 11 days, with the parliament forced to discuss the bill proposed by Hazare after bowing to the pressure of his protest fast in the national capital.
Antony, who inaugurated the Poverty-Free Kerala project that provides 25kg of rice per month to families living in poverty, said many schemes envisioned by the federal and state governments got trapped in inefficient delivery as corruption and red-tape got in the way.
Similar views
The inauguration of the programme was held at the Santhigiri Ashram at Pothencode in the outskirts of the state capital.
The concerns that Antony voiced were expressed more than two decades ago by India's former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, who was assassinated in 1991.
Antony said the failure in properly rolling out the government's welfare schemes to the common man had raised suspicions in the minds of the public about government-sponsored schemes in general. He said it was important for the government to ensure the benefits of such schemes reached the target groups in a time-bound manner.
The defence minister also touched on the fact that a large section of the populace continued to be challenged by poverty.
