An ordinance that draws heavily on the long pending Lok Pal Bill is on the anvil, with the United Progressive Alliance government keen on countering the Opposition's no-holds-barred campaign against it in the wake of the public outrage over a slew of scams, apparently involving ministers and party men.
The ordinance, which will create a mechanism to deal with corruption involving public personalities including the Prime Minister, Ministers and MPs, is part of the government's strategy to demonstrate that it is serious about ending graft. Indeed, at last month's Congress plenary, party president Sonia Gandhi stressed that the government would need to take corruption “head-on” and even suggested a five-point plan to do so — a suggestion Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said he would take note of.
A note prepared by the Prime Minister's Office, based on the suggestions made by Ms. Gandhi, party sources said, was discussed at a meeting of the Congress Core Group at Dr. Singh's residence on December 31.
The government, the sources said, would like to push the ordinance through before Republic Day, so that it can be included in the President's address to the nation. The government wants the ordinance in place well before the budget session to show there will be zero tolerance of corruption. Equally, it wants to create public opinion against the Opposition, particularly the Bharatiya Janata Party, which has been threatening to boycott the budget session if a Joint Parliamentary Committee to investigate the 2G spectrum scam is not constituted.
Along with the promulgation of the ordinance, the government expects that the Shunglu panel, which is investigating the Commonwealth Games scam, will submit its report in mid-January and that the controversy over the appointment of P. J. Thomas as Central Vigilance Commissioner will die down after the Supreme Court pronounces its verdict on the issue at month-end.
It also hopes that some of the probe into the 2 G spectrum scam will yield results before the budget session.
At the plenary session, Ms. Gandhi also suggested that the government seriously consider state funding of elections, fast-tracking of all cases of corruption involving public servants including politicians, legislation to ensure transparency in public procurement and contracts and an “open, competitive system of exploiting natural resources.” She urged all Congress Chief Ministers and Central Ministers to review and relinquish all “discretionary powers,” particularly in land allocation, as they “breed corruption.”
The Maharashtra government, the sources said, has already started looking at what regulations need to be changed to end the discretionary powers.
