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

Speaking at the Biennial Conference of the CBI and the 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.

The Prime Minister said that government is working towards executive and technical reform to curb the menace of corruption.

Regarding premature publicity of cases under investigation the Prime Minister said it may harm the cause of justice.

The Prime Minister said the 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 said people induldging in corruption must realise that that they cannot possibly get away from the law and would sooner rather than later suffer the consequences of their wrongdoing.

Earlier, CBI Director A P Singh in his speech said the CBI must be an integral and independent component in any effort to strengthen the mechanism to combat corruption.