New Delhi, Apr 19: The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, on Saturday said that corruption is one of the major challenges facing the government and the judiciary, and suggested that there is an urgent need to eradicate this menace.

Addressing a Conference of Chief Ministers and Chief Justices of High Courts in the Capital, Dr. Singh said, "The Chief Justice of India has written to me suggesting that we create special courts to deal with corruption cases. I agree that there is urgent need to do so. This will instill greater confidence in the justice delivery system, both at home and abroad."

Dr. Singh also laid stress on the need for opening new family courts.

"The Chief Justice of India has also written to me about the need for the creation of more family courts. The Family Courts Act 1984 mandates the State Governments to establish Family Courts in urban areas with a population of over one million. Many State Governments have so far failed to discharge their legal obligation in this regard. As a result, many litigants, hailing mostly from socially and economically weaker sections of the society, have to travel long distances to seek a redressal of their grievances. It is, therefore, necessary to set up at least one family court in each of these 465 districts," he said.

He further said that his Government is prepared to work with State Governments and courts to modernize the relevant infrastructure, to computerize processes and systems, and to provide alternative justice delivery systems that can help reduce the burden on the High Courts and the Supreme Court.

"Finding a solution to the problem at hand is not an issue. Implementing these solutions and inspiring confidence in people is the real challenge we collectively face. I sincerely hope we can work together towards these ends," he added.

Dr. Singh also said that there is a need for increasing the number of judicial officers and for upgrading the judicial infrastructure to bring down the number of pending of cases in various courts of the country.

"I am informed by the Ministry, that despite this, a larger number of cases are being registered than the number of cases being disposed off. Pendency will, therefore, continue to increase unless special measures are taken to liquidate the pending cases at a much faster pace," he said.

He added that pendency in courts can also be reduced through alternative measures for settlement of disputes.

"The Chief Justice of India has taken an important initiative in constituting a Mediation and Conciliation Project Committee," he said.

The Prime Minister also laid emphasis on the need for recruiting more judicial officers and judges in the High Courts and the Supreme Court.

"There is clearly merit in this and the Central Government has taken steps to increase the number of judges of High Courts. Recently, 152 new posts of High Court judges have been created and an increase in the number of judges in the Supreme Court is also being undertaken," Dr. Singh said.

Apart from increasing the number of judicial functionaries, he said, "We must also upgrade the existing infrastructure. Many court buildings and complexes have not seen any expansion since the time they were originally built. The Central Government is willing to help State Governments in constructing new court buildings and residential accommodation for judges." (ANI)