The first meeting of the Joint Drafting Committee to prepare the draft Lok Pal Bill has been scheduled tentatively for April 16, Union Minister for Law and Justice M. Veerappa Moily said on Saturday.
However, the date would be finalised after the availability of the committee members, both Ministers and civil society activists, was ascertained, he told journalists after opening a private school here.
Mr. Moily, also the convener of the newly constituted committee, said social activist Anna Hazare had met the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh 20 days ago and informed him of his decision to go on an hunger strike demanding a law to check corruption. The Prime Minister told Mr. Hazare about the government's commitment to bring in a bill. During the recent Congress plenary session, party president Sonia Gandhi had called for rooting out corruption. Subsequently, the Prime Minister set up a Group of Ministers to deal with the issue, he said, to drive home the point that the Congress and the government were committed to tackling corruption.