2-Day BRICS anti-corruption meet opens in city

Metro India News | Hyderabad

The two-day 2nd BRICS Anti-Corruption Working Group (ACWG) meeting commenced in Hyderabad on Tuesday, with senior officials from BRICS nations deliberating on strengthening international cooperation to combat corruption, trace fugitive economic offenders, and recover stolen assets.

Rachna Shah, Secretary to Department of Personnel and Training, Government of India said, “Corruption remains a major obstacle to sustainable development, diverting resources from essential sectors such as healthcare, education and infrastructure while eroding public trust.”

She stressed that no country can tackle corruption alone and called for coordinated global efforts to curb illicit financial flows, enhance extradition cooperation, recover stolen assets and prevent jurisdictions from becoming safe havens for economic offenders.

Highlighting technology-driven governance, Shah showcased India's reforms, including the Government e-Marketplace (GeM), Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT), faceless taxation and digital public services, as effective tools for promoting transparency and reducing corruption. She also stressed for having technology-enabled vigilance, data-driven monitoring and stronger grievance-redressal mechanisms.

The meeting will discuss the BRICS Repository for tracing fugitive offenders, the BRICS Network of Law Enforcement Practitioners, asset recovery mechanisms, and emerging risks from FinTech and Virtual Digital Assets in laundering corruption proceeds. Earlier, BRICS ACWG Chair J Ashok Kumar said the group's focus this year has been on developing practical cooperation mechanisms while avoiding duplication with existing international frameworks. Progress made in recent months reflected the value of sustained dialogue and the shared commitment of BRICS countries to strengthening anti- corruption cooperation, he noted.

The meeting concludes on August 5.