Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan while stressing the need for good governance has asked to abolish corruption in public life and corporate sector for the progress of the nation.

He was speaking at the 177th annual general meeting of Bombay Chamber of Commerce and Industry which released the 'Self-Audit Guidelines of Whistle Blower Policy' on June 7, with an aim to diminish and eradicate corruption from within the society.

Chavan unveiled the draft whistle blower policy for creating a debate and a resolution on the issue so that the business houses, other organisations as well as individuals can adapt the policy to reduce corruption within the nation.

Uday Khanna, chairman of Lafarge and the outgoing president of Bombay Chamber, spoke on the chamber's efforts towards its thrust areas including bringing in good governance within the corporate sector.

All the constituent members of Bombay Chamber were urged to agree to pursue the draft whistle blower policy and practice it in their daily lives.

The members requested the Chief Minister, that he, in his capacity of being the head of the state, should help propagate this message all over the state for eradication of corruption.

Supporting the Chief Minister on the draft policy, Khanna said, "Better governance can improve our GDP by almost around 2 percentage points. We could catch up with China's growth rate just by improving our governance and ethical conduct," he said. MORE PTI SVS GK RBL PTP 06091205 NNNN

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Further, on boosting growth through increased FDI, Khanna said, "Maharashtra is already the highest FDI receiving state (more than 30 per cent) and we must aim to regain its glory as a premier economic powerhouse."

During the AGM, Neera Saggi assumed presidentship as the first woman executive in the history of Bombay Chamber in place of Khanna, and reiterated her faith in the Chief Minister for creating a corruption free business atmosphere.

She said more and more women should come out and take part in government as well as corporate sector.

"Bombay Chamber believes, as always, that it would be a privilege to associate itself as an advisory group and work in partnership with the state government and all its agencies to address the issues faced by the state and the city of Mumbai and improve the effectiveness of the administration for public benefit." PTI SVS GK RBL PTP 06091206 NNNN