Anna Hazare and Arvind Kejriwal choosing different paths in their fight against corruption and the latter opting to form a political party will not affect the anti-corruption movement, said Justice N. Santhosh Hegde, a former Lokayukta of Karnataka and an anti-corruption crusader.
He was addressing students of K.G. Group of Institutions on Thursday.
After Mr. Hazare’s last public rally in Mumbai in December 2011, Team Anna got thinking because it did not account for the fatigue factor among its support base, the middle class. At this stage, a group of activists decided to enter electoral politics because it wanted to bring about a change from within the system.
Having negotiated with the Central Government representatives and talked to several politicians, this group wanted to enter Parliament so as to be able to take up Lokpal Bill. But it has a long way to go as contesting elections in the current circumstances is a very tough game.
The other group wanted to adopt a different strategy. However, both would not do any bad for the anti-corruption movement.
Commenting on Prime Minister’s address at the 19th Conference of the Central Bureau of Investigation and State Anti-Corruption Bureaux, he said that the Prime Minister, while asking for strengthening the fight against corruption, had done quite the opposite.
In 2006, while addressing IAS recruits, he had suggested action against corporate houses that indulged in corruption.
He asked the young civil servants to walk the extra mile and take on corruption by the horns. Having made similar noises in the subsequent months and years, in 2008 he allowed for dilution of the Prevention of Corruption Act, taking away prosecution powers.
Why was that amendment introduced, he asked and quoted a Gurcharan Das essay to say that the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was 25 per cent guilty of corruption.
He being a team leader should own responsibility for corrupt practices under his stewardship.
Justice Mr. Hegde also said that while it had taken almost 50-plus years for the Parliament to enact a law on establishing Lokpal, it had in 2008 passed nearly 17 bills in a few minutes, without any debate. This shows the elected representatives’ to fight corruption.
The very act of establishment of Lokpal and Lokayuktas would not wipe out corruption just as the presence of police stations had not banished crime.
Quoting a study by the Bangalore chapter of the India Against Corruption, he said that the money looted through scams since 1947 that had come to light was around Rs. 9,00,00,000 crores, which worked out to Rs. 126 crore for every revenue village in the country.
Stating that greed was at the heart of all corruption, Justice Mr. Hegde wanted such changes in the political and societal setup that would prevent corruption. For, today, the jailed corrupt leaders felt as if they were Mahatma Gandhis walking out of prison on bail distributing sweets.
G. Bakthavathsalam, Chairman, KG Information Systems Private Limited, Ashok Bakthavathsalam, Managing Director, KG Information Systems Private Limited, and others were present at the occasion.
Our Staff Reporter adds from Tirupur: Mr. Hegde reiterated the need for a watchdog to keep track of the political system in the country. He also expressed concern about the scams and added that there should be greater accountability and transparency in governance.
Mr. Hedge was interacting with industrialists, lawyers, engineers, doctors and youth at an event organised on the sidelines of the inaugural of Tirupur Welfare Association, a forum formed by people from different segments of society to promote social activities, here on Thursday.
Raja Shanmugam, chairman of NIFT-TEA Knitwear Institute, and Pawan Gupta, an executive committee of Tirupur Welfare Association, among others, spoke.
