Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh has said government is considering changes in law to make private sector bribery a criminal offence.

Speaking at the Biennial Conference of CBI and state anti-corruption bureaux, the Prime Minister said India has ratified UN Conventions against corruption and to meet its requirements a slew of measures which include amendments in laws pertaining to anti graft measures.

He said Government is working on ways and means to minimize discretionary powers of public authorities and the issue of a public procurement law to minimize irregularities

in the award of government contracts worth thousands of crores of rupees every year.

He urged the CBI that people indulging in corruption must realise that that they can not possibly get away from the law and would sooner rather than later suffer the consequences of their wrongdoing.

Earlier, the CBI Director A P Singh in his speech said CBI must be an integral and independent component in any effort to strengthen the mechanism to combat corruption. Mr Singh said one of the draft bills of Lokpal envisages merger of the anti-corruption wing of the CBI with the Lokpal.

The CBI director said, given the composite nature of the CBI, such a proposal is neither practical nor advisable.