Lokpal and Lokayukta are necessary but not sufficient to root out corruption from the country, a cleansing of the political system in which candidates purchase votes, Lok Satta president Jayaprakash Narayana has said.
Addressing students of various colleges at a meeting organised by the Rotary Club (Midtown) Mr.Narayan said that the time was ripe for the youth to work for a radical change in the polity or the country.
Quoting Britain's former Prime Minister William Evert Gladstone, the Lok Satta leader said the great man defined Government as an entity that made it “easy to do good and difficult to do evil”.
The Government should therefore make laws that prevented people from being corrupt. Citing the example of Indian doctor Arun Sharma who was convicted of becoming rich by malpractice in the United States, Mr Narayana said that the doctor and his wife were sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment. Not only did the courts imprison him, but they also confiscated all the property of the doctor which was equivalent to Rs.195 crore in dollars.
He said if there were laws that put corrupt people in prison and took away all their wealth, they would be afraid of indulging in it. While laws were useful like weapons the entire political system should be cleansed by electing the right people to the legislative houses. “He cannot plant the seed of a tree that has poisonous fruit and hope that it bears fruit that make us immortal,” Mr Narayan said.
Mr. Narayana participated in a long interaction session with the students and answering their questions with great patience. Rotary district governor P.Sundar Rao said that the programme was being conducted as part of the Rotary New Generation Month celebrations. Midtown president ‘Kayvee' presided. Earlier, Mr. Narayana unveiled a statue of former Minister Simhadri Satyanarayana at Avanigadda. He also addressed students at Montessori College. Students of the college swarmed him for autographs which he signed patiently.
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