Has Anna Hazare Lost the Battle?: (English); Anna's Fight Against Corruption;

Has Anna Hazare Lost The Battle?: (English)

Anna's Fight Against Corruption

I was in anguish when I saw the face of Anna Hazare on TV during his fast in Mumbai. He was adamant to carry out his fast despite running high temperature and he tried his best to keep his promise to the nation.. This frail old man of 74 has personally nothing to gain out of this struggle but wants to see Rama Rajya established in Bharat. I have purposely used the words 'Rama Rajya' and 'Bharat' because they are drawn from our ancient culture and not imported. However, let me make it clear that I have not been advised by any party or social group to use these words. Nor has Anna Hazare been advised by any party or social group to undertake a crusade against corruption. Had it been so, the Shiv Sena supremo would not have expressed his dislike for him.
Mumbaiites failed this selfless soul for reasons best known to them. Reasons can be many. One, Mumbai people are time conscious and do not have time to spend for political rallies since time has a cost for them and they attend the rallies of Politicians only because they are paid for the same. Two, proper logistics was not planned by IAC to ensure proper attendance coupled with State Government sabotaging it by creating transportation hurdles. Three, people found no reason why Anna should undertake fast when the bill was being tabled in the Lok Sabha. Whatever reason may have weighed heavily on the minds of the people, fact remains we failed this sincere crusader against corruption. I refrain to call Anna a Mahatma or a Second Gandhi because such tags raise the expectations of the people from the mortal human beings.
During the past several months the Government used many a method to bring down the image of Anna and his team. Initially they questioned their integrity and their past record. I do not know how much truth is there in such allegations but question arises as to why did the Government not take action against them at proper time and preferred to undertake a smear campaign now. Fortunately,this adverse publicity did not find favour with the public. I would like to add here that no body in this world is perfect and there is a possibility of some mistake having been committed by any one of them. What has to be seen is whether the act committed was with an intention to amass wealth and become rich or was it a mere act of oversight? I would advise all the members of IAC to declare their assets and let any one conduct scrutiny as they please.
When the Government failed to smear the good name of  IAC activists, it resorted to communalising the whole issue through their hounds who day in and day out publicized that the movement had the backing of RSS. For the sake of discussion, let us presume that the movement has a backing of RSS, what then? Is fighting against corruption an anti-Muslim act or anti-Christian act? Does rooting out corruption adversely affect the rights of Scheduled castes, Scheduled tribes and Other backward Classes? Muslims are known to have least representation in Government jobs. Would anti-corruption measures not reduce nepotism, communalism and money power in recruitment and ensure that all deserving Muslims get their due? Would machinations of high-caste babus not be exposed if Lokpal bill was in place? Would we not get a society which believed in equality of opportunity? If RSS backs a movement which benefits all the citizens of the country should we oppose it just because a Hindu body supports it. I feel we should welcome any step taken by anybody if it is for the welfare of the entire society and not for a few. In fact it is today I wish that Muslims and Dalits had sincere and selfless leaders like Maulana Abulkalam Azad and Baba Saheb Ambedkar who would have shown them the right path.
An objection was raised whether a nominated body could take to task the Prime Minister or the elected representatives of the people who indulge in corruption? The answer is make the Lokpal also an elected body. Let the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha elect the members of Lokpal. Even by selecting the members of Lokpal through PM, Vice President, Speaker,Chief Justce and an eminent Jurist , he becomes indirectly elected as majority of the selectors are elected representatives of the people. The only thing an independent Lokpal ensures is that it will focus on eradicating corruption from the country and would expedite such cases.
And then the big questions that Prime Minister will be belittled if he comes under the purview of Lokpal. May I ask a counter question as to why should a Prime Minister do an act which calls attention of a Lokpal?  If he is upright , every citizen of India including the Lokpal will bow before him and he will write his name in golden letters in the history of India.
Last but not the least , I feel that there is still time for the Parliamentarians to rise above party politics and petty personal gains and give to the people of India a Lokpal which is truly an independent body so that the generations to come will remember them the way they remember B R Ambedkar and the constitution makers.

                                             *********

The Effective Lokpal: Lokpal As I See It; (English)

The Effective Lokpal:

Lokpal As I See It: (English)

Having studied different points of view put forth by different groups regarding the Lok Pal, his appointment, jurisdiction and the organisational structure, I have come to the conclusion that all of us are not sincerely attempting to achieve the sole objective to root out corruption from this country. I have been witness to the functioning of bureaucracy in this country all my life and my feeling is that the bureaucrats behave more like Masters of the people rather than Public Servants. Needy people have to run from pillar to post to get even ordinary jobs done like driving licenses, passports, hard earned pensions /gratuity/ provident fund  and even withdrawing the money their deceased parents have deposited in Post offices not to speak of appointments, contracts, tenders and the rest. The environment has become so pessimistic and suffocating that there does not seem to be any escape route. Thanks Anna Hazare, the Crusader against corruption, that some light is now noticed at the end of the dark tunnel.

Lokpal vs 120 crores One question that has continuously been raised is how can single Lokpal attend to the grievances of the 120 crore people of India.(though this number does not take into consideration that most of the grievances arise from house-holds represented by the head of the familiy which brings down the effective number to only 20 crores). Hopefully children under the age of 18 do not need the help of Lokpal. Not only this, every one in India is not affected all the time by Central Government working and most of the corruption is noticed in the State government Departments for wihch seperate Lok Ayuktas have to be appointed with their own organisations assisting them. Moreover, with the help of computers and internet many things can be achieved in no time which were unthinkable in olden days.

CBI AND CVC Appointment of Lokpal  will render CVC almost redundant while the continued functioning of CBI under the government under the pretext of so called independence will leave it toothless. Strong IAS/IPS lobby will not like any change in both CVC and CBI where their career is assured but we have to swallow the bitter pill. All the government employees have to be brought under the net of one agency called Lokpal, otherwise cases where Officials of different cadres are involved will be tossed between these different agencies causing undue delay. In the event Gp C and Gp D posts are kept under CVC which remains under Government as hitherto before, the situation will remain unchanged since the percentage of Gp C and D employees form the bulk of Government Servants and their exclusion from Lokpal will defeat the very purpose for which Lokpal is sought to be made. Needless to mention that most of the corruption is indulged in and routed through GpC and Gp D who act as conduits for their bosses except in very large contract deals. The public in India are directly affected by the corrupt practices of theses Gp C and Gp D employees in their day to day dealings. It is therefore important that all employees are brought under the ambit of Lokpal and the Lokpal is provided with its own investigative agency or CBI is directly placed under it. The head of the CBI should be appointed by PM, Lokpal and Chief Justice of Supreme court. Similarly the CVC should either be disbanded completely or else brought under the ambit of Lokpal as its aministrative wing, as against investigative wing(CBI), and its responsibility will be to receive public grievances and their redressal besides Legal matters concerning Lokpal. Appointment of CVC will be the same way as in the case of Head of the CBI.

Citizen's Charter Citizen Charter  has to be prepared by the respective Ministeries, Departments and Government Offices. Lokpal is only required to effectively monitor its implementation which will not put any substantial burden on the Lokpal in any way.

Appointment Appointment of Lokpal should be for a fixed tenure of 5 years and his selection should be done on  a broader basis. Prime Minister, Leader of the Opposition, and Chief Justice of India should form the selection panel which will ensure greater weightage to the elected representatives as against the Technical expertise.
Prosecution powers The Lokpal will only be effective in case it can take up complaints independently and investigate all the complaints received against any Government servant without any interference from any quarter and in case any of the allegations is prima face established, further prosecute the said Government servant. In absence of any such powers of prosecution and non-availability of organisation for such prosecution , Lokpal will be rendered into a white elephant and will dismay the public who have entrusted it with their dreams.                                                             I only wish good sense prevails upon all the political parties to see the virtue behind the bill which is expected to help the nation progress rather than cling on to their vested interests for I am sure today they may escape but future generations will not spare them.

                                                                  **************