Social activist Anna Hazare said here on Monday that though the Prime Minister had a good character, the reason he failed to take action against the corrupt was because of ‘remote control'. “It is only because of the ‘remote control' that he cannot do anything. Otherwise he is such a good man,” Mr Hazare said during a press conference organised by ‘India Against Corruption' to gather support for the ‘Jan Lokpal Bill.'
Magsaysay Award winner Arvind Kejriwal and His Eminence Cardinal Oswald Gracias, along with representatives of prominent social and spiritual organisations, were also present for the press meet.
When asked who was the ‘remote control,' or were there many ‘remote controls,' he refused to answer. “You all know it well. Why do you want it from my mouth?”
Mr. Hazare launched a scathing attack on the ruling government for “failing to respond urgently to the most critical problem of corruption faced by the country today.” While comparing the ‘Lokpal Bill' draft made by the government and the ‘Jan Lokpal Bill' draft made by the representatives of civil society, he said the government's draft defeated the purpose of curbing corruption.
“We approached the Prime Minister for talking about our draft Jan Lokpal Bill. But he says he does not have time to take action against corruption till May 13. Today corruption has increased so much that no one has remained unaffected by it,” he said.
Criticising the draft Bill made by the government, he said the intention behind the Bill was to protect the corrupt politicians and bureaucrats, rather than prosecute them. He said the Jan Lokpal Bill would instead give wider powers to the Lokpal to initiate action and prosecute corrupt public servants. It will also give powers to protect the whistle-blowers, said Mr. Kejriwal.
The Jan Lokpal Bill has been drafted by Santosh Hegde, former Supreme Court judge and the resent lokayukta of Karnataka; Prashant Bhushan, Supreme Court lawyer; and Mr. Kejriwal, social activist.
“The nine members of the Group of Ministers appointed for drafting the anti-corruption Bill are some of the most corrupt Ministers,” Mr Hazare alleged, while criticising the government's casual approach towards treating corruption.
“In the Jan Lokpal Bill that we have drafted, if corruption is found through a Right to Information query, the person will have to be immediately jailed. The investigation of charges can happen after that,” he said, adding that the draft had stringent legal penalties to curb corruption.
“The RTI act became so strong and stringent, and one of the best legislation in Asia was because it had the participation of the civil society as well,” he said.
“Today no government official or politician is afraid of law, because they know they will not be prosecuted,” he said.
He said the Lokpal at the Centre or the Lok Ayukta in the States should be made autonomous. “They should have powers to suo motu investigate a matter and take action against the culprits. It should not be an advisory body, as given in the present bill drafted by the government,” Mr Kejriwal said.
He said that provision in the government-drafted bill that complaint should be given to the speaker of the Lok Sabha or the chairperson of the Rajya Sabha, will restrict the purview of the Lokpal and promote mainly politically motivated cases.
