'Mindless negativity' over graft damages nation's image: PM

"Mindless atmosphere of negativity and pessimism that is sought to be created over the issue of corruption can do us no good. It can only damage the nation's image and hit the morale of the executive," Singh said at the 19th conference of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and State Anti-Corruption Bureaux here.

He said the "government stands firm in its commitment to do everything possible to ensure probity, transparency and accountability in the work of public authorities". The remarks come against the backdrop of the government's image taking a beating in recent years over corruption charges in 2G spectrum allocation, Commonwealth Games and the allotment of coal blocks.

The latest salvo against the Manmohan Singh government came from India Against Corruption member Arvind Kejriwal, who has suggested a quid pro quo in business deals between Congress president Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra and a private realty major.The prime minister said experience had also shown that big ticket corruption was mostly related to operations by commercial entities.

"It is, therefore, proposed to include corporate failure to prevent bribery as a new offence on the supply side," he said.