Few could have anticipated that Anna Hazare's movement for a stronger Lokpal bill would generate such an extraordinary groundswell of public support, particularly among the urban middle class. By the fourth day of his indefinite fast, the nationwide protests led by 71-year-old social activist have forced the Centre to drop the anti-corruption bill it had drafted, to agree to prepare a new and stronger draft in consultation with civil society activists, and to desperately seek an agreement to end the crisis. It is imperative that the Manmohan Singh government seeks to resolve the remaining differences — on whether the committee must be formally notified and whether a civil society nominee should head it — by forsaking obstinate stances and respecting the popular mood. With the Centre rejecting the positions staked out by Mr. Hazare on these two issues, he has called for a nationwide jail bharo on April 13. It is not certain how long the deadlock will continue. But in the welter of protests and the general anger about corruption, the key details about what this specific crusade is really about must not be lost.
Essentially, the battle is to formulate a Lokpal bill that will allow for impartial and effective inquiries into complaints against public officials. The civil activist camp is correct in pointing out that the official draft is weak and ineffectual. For instance, rather than allow the Lokpal (or ombudsman) to probe all corruption-related complaints against public officials received from the general public, it restricts such inquires to those forwarded by the Lok Sabha Speaker or the Rajya Sabha Chairman. The reluctance of the Centre to draft a tough Lokpal bill has been coupled with a longstanding reluctance to enact it; one or another version of the bill has been introduced in the Lok Sabha eight times since 1968 only to find the House being dissolved before it could be passed. Mr. Hazare and his supporters have demanded that the Jan Lokpal bill drafted by civil society activists be adopted instead. But this piece of legislation, although having much more teeth, is not without its share of serious flaws. For instance, it stipulates that the selection committee for the Lokpal must include Nobel laureates of Indian origin and recent Magsaysay award winners. It also makes drastic changes in the existing criminal justice system by envisaging the Lokpal as something of a supercop, under whose jurisdiction a good portion of the Central Bureau of Investigation will be subsumed. The challenge is to formulate a Lokpal bill that has the teeth lacking in the government draft and is free from the angularities of the civil society version.
Keywords: Anna Hazare campaign, corruption
Drafting a strong, unbiased and effective anti corruption bill is a very contentious issue. There is no doubt that Anna Hazare's fast forced government to knuckle down and to accept his demands. But the real fight starts from here. Hundreds of obstacles are waiting to come on the way to the desired bill, as we can see that people already started to defame the people involved in the drafting committee. Actually, they want to derail the formation of a system which, in future, is going to catch their own neck. Although, Government's acceptance of Lokpal bill is a welcome decision but successful implementation of such a bill is highly apprehensive. According to me the bill should not depend on the presence or absence of any individual or thing; it should work expeditiously without any influence , then only we can insure a probing system which will help to root out the corruption completely. But again a question crops up that can any such system work without the involvement of people of the country? You make innumerable number of such bills but unless a person gets conscious about harmful consequences of corruption, nothing can give you the desired result. Therefore, the awareness among people is one more major issue which should be dealt with as effectively as drafting of lokpal bill. People should be made to believe that the day to day corruption in which they are involved is ultimately harming them only in a longer run and in a much bigger way. With the consciousness of the people about ill effect of corruption and with strong, effective lokpal bill, we can really think of throwing this evil out of our society completely.
Also it would be pertinenet here to mention that corruption has killed the morality of this nation. People are the nation and our national character and ethos today is a reflection of the peoples' value system. In all the finger-pointing that is going on today what is perhaps not acknowledged is that moral degeneration is frighteningly rampant in the entire social fabric in India . And yet there are no voices in the Indian society and even in the media CALLING for a social awakening . We live in times where values are at a shocking discount. Anything goes in India today or 'sab kuch chaltha hai'. The average citizen is more than a willing participant in compromise, corruption and a lot worse provided it is a 'get-rich-quick' opportunity. Where does nationalism, ethics, honesty, integrity, respect, support etc figure in the heirarchy of values for an average Indian today ? How do we then expect our leaders and politicians to embody these qualities ?
But what we all must ask ourselves FIRST is , what is driving this frenzy of greed and ambition in India that we have forgotten all values and the 'Indian spirituality' is missing in total from the Indians' life-style? What is driving the almost hysterical greed and ambition, fear, frustration , and increasing polarisation between different sections of the population.? Why are we also today leading the world in stress related disorders like diabetes; BP; heart attacks ; cancer ? Why is rape becoming an everyday or rather every-hour story in Delhi ? Why are our town and cities going from bad to worse in terms of civic sense and quality of life? Is there a connection between all these negatives in India today ? For sure there is.
And SECONDLY we must ask who benefits most if a society deteriorates in this manner ?Keeping the masses desperate and fearful is in whose best interest? If you can guess the answer, all the more reason why the Indian masses must ensure the JAN LOK PAL bill is drafted , passed and implemented to curb corruption . It will save Indian society from further deterioration.
Its the need of the hour that we have a society free of corruption and fundamental irregularities. The fact that this drew the support and patronage of so many Indians especially the urban middle class, reflects the thinking and "the struggle" the civil society has been putting up with, waiting for an opportunity to be heard. Anna Hazare has brought back the memories of the Gandhian Movement, back in this soil to fight our own brotherns against injustice.
I don't agree with D Venkatramana's views. How to bring 'self-transformation of each citizen and a resolve to face hardship without paying bribe'? How to discipline the society? Despite a number of great saints and scholars like Mahavir, Thiruvalluvar, Vivekananda and Mahatma Gandhi did their best to discipline this society, still our people, in particular youngesters, choose to follow Big B, Ameer Khan and Rajinikanth. No mass education, no proper educational system in India (though we do have only 'exainination system') and quota system, which is the root cause for wasting our talents. What Mr.Hazare wants is 'going down from the top of the triangle'. I think he is doing the right thing and it would work better. If the head is good, the rest would be easier to correct.
@Patil: Congratulations on actually reading through the bill. That's commendable. However, I believe the clauses you seem to find fault with are not only commonsensical but are fairly common practice in many countries where the corruption levels are low.
For example: 1) Why should judges be exempt from the purview of Lokpal? For instances of judicial corruption and the punishments, look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_federal_political_scandals_in_the_United_States#Judicial_Branch_scandals
You may have noticed that, per the bill, Lokpal members themselves are not outside the purview of Lokpal!
2) Lokpal jurisdiction covering the full gamut of public servants is essential. As many cases of governmental corruption are carefully designed to be 'errors' of ommission and commission by low level employees. Leaving any class of public servants will be a loophole that will be fully exploited by the looters.
3) Someone suspected of a crime (once the preliminary tests prove positive) being required to leave a position from which they can influence the investigation makes sense.
4) About the exclusion criteria for selection to Lokpal. Let's say (hypothetically) that you agree that including Kapil Sibal in Lokpal would hamper any proceedings against A Raja -- even after Kapil Sibal resigns from his ministerial position as well as his parliament seat. How would you write that exclusion rule?
5) Lokpal is intended to be the highest authority in matters of corruption just as supreme court is the highest authority on legal matters. If you ask that Lokpal's decisions need to be questioned, should you be asking the same for Supreme Court's rulings as well? And, can you do that today?
We are supposed to have a Government that is of the people, for the people and by the people. However, the MPs think of themselves as having the divine right to rule. They bristle at anything that challenges them. Getting vote seems to be through bribing voters as has recently been proved in the elections in Tamil Nadu. Getting elected through dubious means does not make them above the law and shunning the people as if people are scoundrels. They have to be under the law. Jan Lokpal is the means to an end. It may not be perfect but how many more decades the worthy MPs will take to pass this important piece of legislation? In management practice wrong action is preferable over in-action. Let us have an imperfect Jan Lok act and this can be amended subsequently. We cannot give criminal elements within the MPs the right of veto over the vast majority of MPs who are right minded. The silent and honest majority of MPs must stand up to the Rajas, Kalmadis, Pawars etc.
My observations on the proposed Jan Lokpal Bill are as under:
1. Although the bill is drafted with good intentions, I don't think it would have the desired results. It proposes to cover the entire gamut of governmental activities. In their enthusiasm, the authors of the bill are endeavouring to chew more than they can bite. Thus the Lokpal will be the investigative authority for corruption cases, vigilance commissioner to enquire into serious lapses and irregularities committed by public servants and award suitable punishments and penalties for these lapses/irregularities and also examine and redress grievances against public servants. Thus, it seeks to create another superstructure to remedy the ills of corruption in the existing superstructure, i.e. the Government. This is a case of remedy worse than the disease. If the Lokpal gets mired into redressing public grievances, there would be no end to it and the Lokpal would not have time to do anything else. Secondly, a clear distinction is required to be made between irregularities/lapses/inefficiencies and acts of corruption. In the latter case, i.e. acts of corruption, quid pro quo or personal benefit has to be clearly established. The former class should be left for the Vigilance Commission to handle and there is no necessity to merge the Vigilance Commission into proposed Lokpal Structure. It would have been better had the authors of the bills focused only on corruption aspect of the governmental activity, that too big ticket corruption and leave the petty thefts to the police authorities to investigate. This would lead to a lean and slim structure for the proposed Lokpal resulting in better efficiency and effectiveness.
2. Let us now come to the specifics, firstly the eligibility criteria for the Lokpal Chairperson and other members. It is laid down that they should not be existing or former MLAs/MPs, Businessmen or professionals. In the latter case, to be eligible, the aspirants will have to suspend their association with their related organization(s). However, the following caveat has been added: Provided that if even after the suspension, the earlier association of that person with such activity is likely to adversely affect his performance at Lokpal, that person shall not be appointed as a member or Chairperson of Lokpal. Now what does this lead us to? Only the class such as Social activists? This is an unwarranted and overly defensive strategy with a presumption that everyone excepting the social activists class are out there to loot the public exchequer and hence are ineligible for the high post!
3. Secondly, the definition of a public servant, as defined in the proposed bill. This includes everybody from the PM, Ministers, Judges to Government Servants (There is lack of clarity about what class of Civil Servants will be covered under the law. Public Sector Corporations/Companies are also covered under the proposed bill. There is no clarity regarding the class of officials/employees, which will be covered under the bill. Hopefully, it does not cover clerks and chaparasis). Judges have been included in the list of public servants. It will have to be seen how the judiciary will react to such a provision. It is provided elsewhere in the proposed that: If during the course of investigation or enquiry into a complaint, Lokpal feels that continuance of a public servant in that position could adversely affect the course of investigations or enquiry or that the said person is likely to impact evidence or witnesses, the Lokpal may issue appropriate orders including transfer of that public servant from that position or his suspension. How can the Lokpal order suspension/transfer of a Supreme Court Judge or for that matter even of a cabinet minister(which is the prerogative of the Prime Minister) ? It is further provided in the bill that: Where after investigation into a complaint, the Lokpal is satisfied that the complaint involving an allegation against the public servant, other than the Ministers, Members of Parliament and judges, is substantiated and that the public servant concerned should not continue to hold the post held by him, the Lokpal shall pass orders to that effect. In case of public servant being a Minister or a Member of Parliament, Lokpal shall make such recommendation to the President, who shall decide either to accept such recommendation or reject it within a month of its receipt. Such sweeping powers are quite uncalled for, considering that the Lokpal is only an investigating authority and the guilt will have to be established and proven in the court of law. Furthermore, can the President dismiss any member of the Parliament? What action the Lokpal can take against SC judges? Nothing is stipulated and nothing can be done by the Lokpal, as per the Constitution. It can be done only through the impeachment process, which is prerogative of the Parliament. Why then cover the SC/HC judges under the proposed bill?
4. Thirdly, it is laid down in the proposed bill that: (1) No suit, prosecution, or other legal proceedings shall lie against the Chairperson or members or against any officer, employee, agency or person referred to in Section 14(4) in respect of anything which is in good faith done while acting or purporting to act in the discharge of his official duties under this Act.
(2) No proceedings of the Lokpal shall be held to be bad for want of form and except on the ground of jurisdiction, no proceedings or decision of the Lokpal shall be liable to be challenged, reviewed, quashed or called in question in any court of ordinary Civil Jurisdiction. As I understand, the provision means that the decisions of the Lokpal cannot be challenged in any court below the level of the High Court. However, further clarity is required and this clause is required to be amended suitably, otherwise it will not withstand the judicial scrutiny and could be termed as unconstitutional. It is strange that the authors of the proposed bill desire to expose the Government and Public Sector servants to a very strict law and at the same time protect the officers/employees of the Lokpal Organization offering them immunity from any judicial action. True, there are many provisions in the proposed bill aiming at self regulation within the proposed Lokpal Organization. But, will such self-regulation work in practice? If not, we are creating a draconian monster which we would be unable to control. If, the proposed Lokpal Organization is also affected by the all pervading corruption, then the God save this country.
5. Lastly, in my view, it would be undesirable to accept the proposed Jan Lokpal Bill as it is and the bill should be subjected to a severe scrutiny by the members belonging to the Government, i.e. the five Ministers. The so called members of the civil society cannot and should not dictate terms, nor should they assume and insist that the both houses of the Parliament clear the bill as envisaged by these Civil Society leaders. The Parliament is the sovereign body and all the members of the Parliament are supposed to cast their votes as dictated by their conscience and not as dictated by these few selected members of the civil society. I must add that these five members of the civil society do not represent the entire society. Even if, we understand and sympathize with the anger expressed against corruption by the supporters of Anna Hazare and his associates, we cannot jump to the conclusion that these supporters constitute a majority of the Country’s population. Let us do a simple calculation. How many persons assembled at Jantar Mantar? Let us assume one lakh. Let us also assume that there were 100 such sites throughout the country where one lakh persons per site assembled to support Anna Hazare and his associates. This works out to total number supporters of one crore, which is not even 1% of India’s total population! So, how can Anna Hazare and his associates assume that only they represent the entire civil society and have a right to bag all the five seats allocated to representatives of the Civil Society?
I used to think that some leaders at-least are worth their money in the present govt., however, with the kind of remarks being made by Mr. Sibal and Mr. Khurshid and all and sundry I think ...no, I am sure we have a govt. with all opportunists, spineless and thoughtless leaders with even the till-now considered good-ones showing what they really are. I think India needs to do its own 'Egypt and Tahrir Square' now. Its TIME.
In a parliamentary democracy every citizen should practise anti-corruption in all his day to day affairs. He should not bribe to get something and he should not accept bribe for doing the right thing. The Officers in the state govt. become corrupted due to corrupt politicians. For that electoral reforms should be part of Lokpal bill so that those involved any act of crime or bribary should not be given chance to contest in the polls.All works in the govt. should have more transparency and the Parliament would function on all days except on holidays. As already said in these columns why Mr. Hazare waited for a long time however now this is the right time at least to get the bill enacted so that future would be good for the younger generation.
I felt very happy on hearing the end of fast-unto-death of Mr. Hazare.
Hope the government keeps it's promise and forms the committee as soon as possible. And also I hope India will be free from corruption in the coming years.
It appears to me that, in order to be meaningful and effective, the office of the LOKPAL
1. Be a constitutionally mandated institution, with members of the institution of LOKPAL having the same provisions for removal (Impeachment by Parliament), protection from reduction of salary and other safeguards to mitigate intimidations by the executive.
2. Members shall have experience in at least one of the areas individually, but collectively in all disciplines as below:
a. Constitutional law (e.g., past Judges of the Supreme Court, eminent Attorneys)
b. Criminal Law, Civil law ( as above)
c. Law Enforcement (official with life-long and untainted public service in investigation and prosecution)
d. Active participants in NGO organizations with life-long, and universally respected social service credentials
e. Others as appropriate, but winning Nobel Prize is not a qualification for this job
Note: Academic excellence is preferable when all things equal, but not necessary.
3. Jurisdiction of institution of LOKPAL shall be limited to the following
a. Publiclly elected officials including all members of Parliament and State Legislatures and City Corporations. Note: Ideally should be extended to all elected officials at the lowest levels (municipalities and Panchayats), but this may be considered as a future long-term issue as this may not be practical. Should this extended to the judicial branch is debatable.
These are some high-level issues. Obviously, establishment of this institution is a daunting task while the Establishment and other vested interests taking every opportunity to undermine this effort.
Enacting Law without checks & balances, unrealistic draft proposals without participation of Citizens Of India along with Legislature, Executive & Judiciary will not serve any purpose to combat Corruption.
This is a serious indication to the people who have been utilising the power for their own benefits that people are ready for freedom struggle. People are really upset with their situation. They receive promises at every election campaign and these were not implemented. Significant portion of the population still struggling for daily food and their basic needs. Mr. Hazare demonstration and its support indicates that people are still ready for a move against corruption.
Sir,
The last sentence of your editorial summed up the need of the hour. In selecting the Lokpal, and in overseeing its functioning, the civil society must have a pivotal role to play. India is not only the largest democracy in the world but it is a fertile land to carry out new and ground breaking political and administrative experiments. If Noble Laureates of Indian origin are a party to the selection of the Lokpal, it enhances the dignity and credibility of the office. We can also consider the idea of electing the Lokpal through a nation wide contest. What we need is a foolproof method of appointing a person of vision, will and integrity as the Lokpal.
Change of mindset of people is definitely needed but it can't be an argument against the Jan Lokpal bill. This bill may not be panacea to the whole rampant corruption present in our country but it will surely retard the accelerating vehicle of corruption and as there is no easy or visible solution for the change of mindset, atleast strong laws would create some panic!
Wonder why it took Mr Hazare so long to adopt Mahatma's method. He was a force to reckon with even before a decade. What was he waiting for ? For the system to taken over by crooks and try to wrestle with them? We don't need legislation or laws. What the country needs is self-transformation of each citizen and a resolve to face hardship without paying bribe. It is easy if the movement starts with every man and woman in the country. Roses, candles, night vigils and observing life sapping fast will not serve any purpose.
Let the Lokpal chief by selected by a committee consisting of the PM, the Leader of the opposition, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, the Chief Election commissioner and the Chief Vigilance Commissioner. Such a panel will hopefully appoint a Lokpal of an impeachable integrity.
Every one is missing one very important aspect of this whole situation. Anna Hazare has proposed the bill to be drafted by both legistators and social activicts. Certainly if given an option he would chose that the bill is drafted completely by social activicts. We can simply understand the situation with a metaphor, if we have to chose between Anna Hazare and any other politician on the basis of clear image and honesty surely Anna Hazare will beat all the politicians of this country. If such a pathetic bunch of corrupt, mmoral and undignified people are making laws for us and are being elected repeatedly by the people of India 'Isn't there a serious problem in the democracy that we are following?'. Question needs to confront every citizen of this country and it should burn our nerves conitniuously till we arrive at conclusion.
I am not sure if this Lokpal bill is the way to combat corruption. There is no dearth of laws in institutions in India. The Indian Penal Code is one of the most comprehensive legal codes in the world. Plus there are many acts which do deal with corruption. There is a CVC who is supposed to be the top anti corruption watch dog. The problem in India is that these institutions are totally dysfunctional because of political interference. Technically, the CBI and other investigative agencies are supposed to report to the CVC. Then why add another layer over him in form of a lok pal. It is much better to strengthen the institution of the CVC, like we did with the Election Commission.
What India needs today is not another watch dog. It needs better policing, decentralization of power and most importantly strengthening these very institutions. On a similar note, maybe we should adopt the system USA follows to appoint its top officers. In the US the judges of the supreme court, the chief of CIA, FBI and other federal institution are appointed only after the senate has confirmed them. Why is such a system not India. The last CVC Mr Thomas was appointed by a three member committee comprising the PM, the HM and the leader of opposition, where the Leader of opp put in a dissenting note. Is this not a conflict of interest.
One factor which needs to be remembered is that there are many individuals who want corruption so that they benefit. The recent fake pilots case is an example of how people benefit illegally from corruption. This has to be addressed too and such people put in jails along with the corrupt officials. Corruption has become so rampant in this country that many a person takes advantage of it to suit his/her requirements.Whether it is getting a driving license or passport or ration card corruption is the shortcut to success. Such people are against such laws which prevent corruption.This aspect seems to have been overlooked by many who have talked about a Jan Lokpal Bill. In a country so deeply rooted in corruption, the mindset of people has to be changed instead of having a law.In spite of the AntiDowry Bill so many are paying dowry, as that is the only way they can marry off their daughters. Moral values have been forgotten in this country and a new generation of young people have come up who thrive on corruption. The only information they always want and have is how much it costs to get the work done.I know of a case of a young lawyer who married a fat, ugly uneducated girl.When asked as to what made him do so he bluntly replied that he was offered a very big dowry to do so.He added that he knew how to enjoy himself, but getting a big dowry was a major problem which he had to solve.
So let us not have the mistaken notion that the Lokpal Bill will root out all corruption. It will only make our people design new methods of avoiding the Law.This will make it more difficult to trace corruption cases.Unless the people change their mindset corruption can not be wiped out as many think.
Anna Hazare has to be applauded by all citizens of India.Hopes are there something may come out of these efforts. This is only a beginning of a great struggle to free the country from a great menace of corruption, nepotism, insensitiveness,and high handedness of Political powers.PM and all the leading Political leaders must feel that India is having a crucial period in its history and it needs complete overhaul of the System which it has followed for the last fifty years. In spite of this India has achieved economic growth mainly due to failures of Western economies.This growth has not produced equitable distribution of benefits and there are huge sections of population still struggling below poverty line.The Electoral systems also need improvements.Money power is playing havoc. Public morality,value systems,and other related values are at a lowest level inspite of improvements in Education. This is a dangerous signal and it needs corrections soon.People should support this great movement which has been just started. There will be a lot of obstacles from Political powers and vested interests.People should come out openly against these people and keep them out of power and influence.Tamil Nadu and other states have a good opportunity in showing their power against these bad forces.India need many Gandhis to win this struggle and Anna Hazare is showing the way. God Bless Him.
Long Live Anna Hazare. Anna has shown to the Indian and World society, especially the youth that Gandhian values, principles and means of fighting for righteous cause will automatically gain public support and momentum. May the good beginning of Anna bring fruits to Indian society and world at large. His movement is an eye opener to the entire world particularly western powers who are looking at military solution to any problem. May peace and tranquility prevail across the world and let every citizen of the world live in corruption free society at peace.
First of all I want to congratulate and thank Mr. Hazare for his crusade against corruption. It is very clear that Mr. Hazare is 100% pure like Gandhiji. But I have a little doubt if he is a married man with family responsibilities whether he will be so good as he is now.By creating a piece of law if someone is going to eliminate corruption at the high level it would beggar belief. But something is better than nothing. In a country where more than 90% of the people have corrupt mind the cleaning should start from the bottom. I think person like Mr. Hazare would be the right one to start that movement. At the same time he should avoid having RSS like members, some swamiji wearing saffron dress seen in the press close to him. Because cheating innocent people in the name of God is also corruption.Mr. Hazare should fight against all kinds of coruption. I was astonished to see the Bollywood members speaking against corruption when they are the biggest offenders group in the independent India.
The press and the media should not dispaly as if the politicians are the only bad people living in our country.As being myself a doctor I can assure you more than 90% of my professionals are indulging in corruption in one way or other.I can write even a book about how Indian doctors cheat common man. Luckily since I am working in U.K. I am not indulging in any of those activities, otherwise no one knows I may be one among those 99% of the common man(corrupted). I am sure that in other professionals there will be hell a lot of corruption in India which would be well known to their own professionals. I used to think when I was in India that without corruption our country can't function. But after seeing the western country I realised that if it is eradicated,life would be better even for the rich.
I personally request Mr. Hazare not to stop his crusade now because there is going to be a piece of legislation by this monsoon season wcich I am sure will not do any visible change to our country.He should use this momentum to completely eliminate the corruption at all levels atleast form the mindset of the Indians. If we are all not corrupt in our mind atleast the next generation will be corrupt free. Once again my sincere and honest thanks for Mr. Hazare and best wishes for his future good deeds.
After Jan Lok Pal Bill, the next on the agenda of Civil Society group led by Anna Hazare must be Police Reform bill. Ms Kiran Bedi, respected IPS officer must take charge, momentum build during this movement will put pressure on the government to act. Similarly there is a need to have a education policy which takes care of the poor and middle class who is under tremendous pressure due to ever increasing cost of education. Government must have a control over private education right from primary to professional degree.
Anna Hazare has emerged the enfant terrible of the day. How gigantic the dimunitive, frgile frame of a man has grown figuratively to dictate terms to the mighty Indian Government, which has finally conceded hook, line and sinker to them. Yes, he has become in a wink a 'phenomenon', as the former Chief of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), R.K.Raghavan, depicts him.
However, he has a stable and a supportive background. He has waged successful battles against the local government in his village to get basic facilities for the hapless villagers. His arrogance and his adamancy are akin to those of the Father of the Nation, who subdued the ruthless Brtishers sans laying hold on any conventional weapon. He may perhaps be the latest incarnation to restore 'dharma' to the the deprived, the discarded and the dispossessed millions of the nation. Let the cynicism of 'Jan Lokpal' metamorphosing into a supercop not deter the newly generated enthusiasm amongst the people. Corruption should be eliminated lock, stock and barrel from all walks of life.
The way I see it: To fight corruption you need 1) Motivation 2) Effective laws. The political establishment lacks motivation is stating the obvious. A more disturbing and sinister behavior of politicians is the systematic (and largely successful) attempts at preventing the enactment of effective laws. The laws are deliberately riddled with loopholes. The institutions are systematically made teeth-less. Then again, what do you expect when you ask the very crooks who are eating away our wealth to formulate laws to prevent them from carrying out their sinister agenda? What Anna Hazare did is to compel the government to address point number 2 (effective laws). Once the Lokpal bill is enacted, then comes the question of point number 1 (motivation). That is a battle for another day. Well done, Anna! We are all with you.
Finally GOI bowed and issued a notification comprising 50% persons from the civil society to draft the Jan Lokpal Bill. The earlier drafted bill had no teeth and could have added in statue shelf.Hence forth GOI should initially publish its intention to draft the legislation on any subject and wide publicity should be given fo the same. People's view should be initially invited to ascertain their views on proposed bill. Then drafting committee should be constituted comprising Government officials / ministers and representative from civil society .How representative from civil society should be selected must be guided by the rules framed. Such drafting committee should draft the bill. The draft bill should be widely published and suggestion of public be invited.Then such amended/modified draft bill be introduced on the floor of the house. Legislatures should be informed /intimated regarding the wishes/suggestion of the general public.
In our set up we assume that elected representative reflect the will of the voters. But it is not the same. Hence we hace to change the precedent in legislation.
If the draft is effective than the ministers will fear to be corrupt.This will cleanse the whole country of blood suckers. Will give all my support to this movement.Hope this is reflected in the coming assembly (Tamil Nadu)elections.The minds of our people are power-full.The corrupt will definitely be defeated.
Congrats to Hazareji, Kiran Bedi, Swami Agnivesh, and all those who stood supporting. I hope this unity does not end here. I hope all the social workers/ activists from each city/ zone get together to form a national group under the likes of hazare and others. Keep in touch with the regional problems need to be tackled...the movement has to continue... They also have to look into creating new politcal parties which are screened for qualifications of right candidates... hope this will be a reality in near future...
People have forgotten that there is an ISRO scam which came to light a couple of months back. This is because the media has, very conveniently to the Prime Minister to whom ISRO reports, apparently chosen to ignore what is not only a financial scam but also a security threat. It is true that the media made the Anna phenomenon widely known and thus attracted supporters. But its silence on the ISRO scam is indeed a blemish on its reputation.
Catching a culprit is team work. Impetus given by Anna Hazare to this team work by evolving a transparent mechanism and forcing government to bow before decision making strategy of public is a good example of memorable and successful event in Indian democracy. We must not stop here.Every Indian should have a mission to enact anti-corrption life style to their individual daily routine.Our individual effort to remain with sense of moral living can produce crores of Anna Hazare to make the society curruption free.
Great conviction on the part of Govt in handling this . Had it not been Dr.MM Singh, it would have definitely taken few more weeks /months before Govt agrees! It is a lesson to be learnt by other countries like Libya, Egypt, Middle East countries and also USA/EU , how a real democracy works wonder. Let Obama & Co understand this aspect before venturing into internal issues of countries.
A day of success for the civil society, democracy and real guardians of democracy -- newspapers with national intertest and public interest in the forefront, like the one I am reading now. A warm thank you to the Editors of 'The Hindu', for giving this issue the prominence it deserved.We are proud to be your readers!
At a time when the entire country is witnessing series of corruption episodes involving millions of rupees, the crusade against corruption launched by Anna Hazare has come very timely. The success that will be achieved by his mission to root out corruption will have far reaching benefits for the common man. Once proper systems and procedures are put in place, people will start getting real value for their money. At present, for every rupee that they earn, sizeable chunk of it goes towards corruption (bribe).Government of India has now decided to accept the suggestions of Anna Hazare. It is a victory of the people who have been battling over the years to root out corruption. Anna Hazare's crusade to root out corruption is in the right earnest. All right thinking people should support his crusade. Whatever development India has made over the years has been getting nullified due to corruption. The worst affected people are those from the poorer strata of the society. For getting anything done, bribe needs to be paid.
The cynicism that new version of lokpal bill will weaken parliamentry democracy sounds conservative. We have great example of Scandevian countries where same structure is followed with great success. What is now important that this new energy must be chanelised in Gandhian way to achieve greater results for betterment of soceity because we have many task ahead. Otherwise opportunists will misuse it.
I agree, there are flaws... Before they try any more authorities, all they need is a compelling piece of legislation that will force the judicial system to issue a judgment within three weeks. They can exempt criminal cases where-in they need lot of research etc., A directive like this will be a powerful tool for a common man. Ex-president Kalam could have implemented this but he got caught up with bigger ideas. All India needs is a system where-in a judgment will be issued within 3 weeks, it doesn't matter whether it is local or high or supreme court. You can't stop corruption but people who practice it could be punished soon, that is within 3 weeks not 30 years !!!
Those who are and were opposed to the agitation of Shri Anna Hazare are not correct in thinking that the agitation weakens parliamentary democracy. Why should it be assumed that only the MPs and other representatives alone represent public opinion? Even if lacs of Indian people do not contest elections, they have a right to demand accountability from politicians and bureaucracy. The Jan Lokpal bill is an attempt do enhance standards of accountabiltry.
Just passing the Jan Lokpal bill will not certainly be good enough; however it is a good beginning. Secondly, to reduce corruption, all of us have to be united and firm. We should have the courage to say NO to giving a bribe and initially suffer some inconveniences. However, it is here the problem starts.Many among us wish to get things done fast and succumb to the pressure of the person who demands bribe to speed up the work. This should not happen if we have to reduce corruption.
Shri Anna Hazare's agitation has served one puprpose: it has raised hopes of an awakened public demanding action for a good cause and justice.
After this i also decided to fight for the country development in any of the major problem i say Congratulations Hazareji...
You are right to hold that whereas the angularities of the civil society version of a Lok Pal bill must be dispensed with,the central government must too take steps to add teeth to its own bill.But any agreement should not mean that the government takes its own time and tries to weaken the peoples' movement by delaying tactics.To inject a sense of urgency to the matter, Anna Hazare's 'jail bharo' is a must as the matter is hanging fire since 1968,as the editorial put it.We are not Egypt or Tunisia certainly,but the time has come to mount an eternal vigilance on our rulers now as the price for the democracy we have,as otherwise the wages of the sin of negligence will be the death of our democracy.
A Lok Pal that has teeth, sharp teeth, will go a long way to clean the system. A system that has been corrupted, diluted and contaminated by decades of indifference and appeasement to special interest groups and the nexus of netas, babus and business interests. So, either we have a full sharp teeth version of Lok Pal or have none. In fact such a Lok Pal authority will change the political landscape of India for good. Let us give total support to establish a tough no-nonsense Lok Pal that will more than offset the shoddy and slothful way the justice system has been implemented in India for so long as far as netas, babus and the nexus are concerned.
A well-written edit reflecting the two sides of the coin. The media especially the tv channels never articulated the government view point adequately. As an ordinary citizen i rejoice at the PM accepting Anna Hazare's demand in toto. All's well that ends well.
The whole issue of Lok Pal bill runs around a strong and effectiveness but finally the basic question is who appoints Lok Pal? It is finally a judge. Is it not so!!! Recently a leading advocate named judges as corrupt in the Supreme Court as well murky things are going round on the just retired chief justice! Are these judges are appointed by politicians or not? Finally I want pose one simple question: Lakhs of crores of black money is changing hands in cricket. Is Lok Pal has any role in this, to stop such a thing? We have RTI, which is now being mis-used by many and filling the courts to fight against their rivals in politics, business, etc.
Indian media's response to Anna Hazare/IAC's movement has ranged from unquestioning awe to vested interest-driven disapproval couched as concern for the sanctity of democracy. I know, on its worst day, 'The Hindu' is a thousand times better than the other news papers of this country. But, may be to present a 'balanced view' that takes into account the criticism of the movement, this editorial makes several errors:
1) Anna Hazare and IAC have not demanded that Jan Lokpal Bill be adopted as is. They asked for a panel to draft the legislation, a panel where at least 50% of the members are from the civil society. The rationale behind this demand is very sound: You cannot expect a group plagued by corruption to come up with effective measures against corruption. That's not a hypothetical argument. The last several attempts at a Lokpal bill have proven that rationale sufficiently.
2) As for the constitution of the selection committee that would select the chairperson and members.. First, the bill that will be drafted by the panel mentioned above will have the final say on it. So, given that the bill is yet to be drafted and finalized, there'll be plenty of opportunity to discuss the selection committee membership. Now, even if the Jan Lokpal bill's proposal were to make it to the final bill with no changes, it's not an undesirable outcome at all. If the proposal were to be taken as is, today, that committee would have at least 16 people including Meira Kumar (Loksabha speaker), Mohammad Hamid Ansari (Vice president), Amartya Sen (who is both a Bharat Ratna and a Nobel winner), Nelson Mandela (Bharat Ratna), Dr APJ Kalam, Pt Ravishankar, Lata Mangeshkar, Nelson Mandela, KG Balakrishnan (NHRC chairman), Deep Joshi and Mandakini Amte/Prakash Amte (Magsaysay winners), S.Y. Quraishi (CEC), Vinod Rai (CAG) and four justices. (There is some ambiguity about the 'of Indian origin' part. That could add /subtract a member. For example, do VS Naipaul and Venkataraman Ramakrishnan count?) Now, what is the complaint about this propsed list? Whenever someone with any Indian connection gets a Nobel prize, we get so excited about it whether or not that person feels Indian. Including Nobel winners of Indian origin shouldn't be a problem. As for Magsaysay awards, these are given for integrity in public service and are known as Asia's Nobel prizes. If there is an innuendo that Kiran Bedi and Arvind Kejriwal as Magsaysay winners want to be on the committee, no such fears are needed. They are not the last two and hence don't qualify.3) Finally, the other complaint is about Lokpal being the super cop/super judge. (Interestingly, the super cop/super judge complaint seems to come from ex/current cops and ex/current legal personnel respectively. I believe it's a simple case of organizational turf war and images of a monster of absolute power are unwarranted.) For Lokpal to be effective, it does need to have investigative and prosecutorial powers. For that, CBI can't continue to be the lapdog of the executive.
Spot on. I think including legal luminaries like Shri.Verma will round out the rough edges
Why can't we have a Lokpal organisation similar to the Election Commission? The EC seems to be a very autonomous organisations capable of making meaningful impact, and which usually has used this capability for a lot of good.
The government had to give in to the honest and selfless demands of a man, who has become larger than life to the depraved and angered Indian public,looking for someone of credibility to challenge the long standing corruption in every public office. I hope this spirit of reform is carried to the very end of drafting the appropriate law, to its implementation and removal of the most blatant of maladies effecting the psyche of our nation. Hope from now on, our sense of entitlement comes from living a life of achievement and excellence with an attitude of contributing something to the progress of our country than from the money we made and saved.
Time and time again, it's proving that courageous individuals like ANNA HAZARE can do wonders. THANK YOU. Also, will the content of the LOKPAL Bill be available to the citizens of India? It would encourage the citizens to have some awareness and critical thinking about this. Possibly, some worthwhile suggestions from them. This is the way of civic participation in public laws.
There is need of such indpendent institution which is free of political interference and effectively deal with corruption related cases. Even after recommendation of first administrative reform commision in the year of 1968 for Lokpal institution still we are not having it .
As per the latest news the govt was forced to accept all the five demands of Anna Hazareji and his followers. The pressure on the govt was so high there was no escape route left for them. Let there be a law by which these corrupt people could be legally dealt with. Let’s hope for the better. Finally congratulations and best wishes to Anna Hazareji and the people of the country.
You nailed it. A Lokpal bill without teeth and sufficient funding to implement is not worth the paper it is printed in. Insistence of inclusion of Noble Laurates or Magsaysay award winners to select the Lokpal is flawed. Only persons of integrity cirrespective of their global standing should select the person who is going to police the conscience of the country.
Hazare's movement picked up grounswell support shows that people are sick of corruption in the government. The success of Hazare's movement is partly due to timing when there is wide spread corruption and its public awareness brought by a series of articles and editorials by 'The Hindu' and may be others. It shows the importance free press in a civil society.
Prime minister, sonia, Pranab, kapil , all are begging this old man to give up fast. We are only reminded of a famous court scene in the film Gandhi, where the Judge pleads with him to refute his action and the grand old man simply pleads guilty and refuses to pay the fine. The Judge in total exasperation lets him free.
If the govt thinks that it can buy time by simply accepting the demands and hoodwink the public, he would surface again with a stronger vigour and continue to torment them. The election results in Tamil Nadu will be a great pointer to the mood of the people on this issue. Our state can set a precedent by defeating the corrupt forces and pave way for a greater awakening. What is important than the piece of legislation is the willingness of the civil forums to take the corrupt head on with out fear. Mr Subramaniam swamy can really take the lead in this regard.
If the Office of The Ombudsman is not a constitutional appointment - permanently established within the confines of federal jurisprudence and its over sight functions - it will have no teeth given the penchant for Congress Party to avoid such legal over sight from days of PM Nehru.
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