By bringing in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail, the government wants the oppression of the colonial rule to return, social activist Anna Hazare said on Wednesday.
Questioning why Parliament was stuck in a logjam over the issue, Mr. Hazare said: “It is a democracy, and the government must consider the people's views.”
Raising doubts over the benefit to farmers, Mr. Hazare asked: “If you [the government] are concerned about the farmers, then why are they committing suicide?”
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“Packages and FDI are not the answer to the farmers' problem. The foreign investors are not coming for social service,” he said.
‘Lokpal draft unacceptable'
Mr. Hazare stated that he would write to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh demanding a strong Lokpal Bill. “The sense of the House resolution had promised that the citizen's charter and the lower bureaucracy will be included in the Lokpal Bill,” he pointed out.
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A diluted Lokpal Bill at the Centre would mean an even more watered down version of the Lokayukta Act in the States, Mr. Hazare said. “The government's intentions are not clean.” He reiterated his threat to relaunch an agitation on December 27. “After the andolan, I will tour the five poll-bound States and inform the people that the government is not ready to root out corruption,” he said.
Pointing out that non-inclusion of the lower bureaucracy and the judiciary in the Lokpal Bill would necessitate States to make a different Act for the purpose, he asked: “What is the need for this?”