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Centre veering round to including Group C employees in Lokpal by Smita Gupta

Idea to keep promise made in ‘sense of the House' resolution
 
The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, which in recent days indicated that it was not keen on including the lower bureaucracy within the ambit of the Lokpal Bill, as it was billed as an instrument to deal with corruption in high places, is now veering round to the view that the Group C employees could be included in the Bill it is bringing before Parliament, probably on December 19.

A day before the Parliamentary Standing Committee attached to the Ministry of Personnel tables its report on the Bill in the House, government sources indicated that the Group C employees were likely to be included in the government's version of the Bill.

These sources made two points: one, that only complaints of corruption that attract penal provisions will be entertained, not grievances; and two, that one possible way to deal with the volume would be to let these complaints go first to the Central Vigilance Commission, as it happens now, and then route the really serious ones periodically to the Lokpal for further action.

By doing so, the government will keep the promise it made in the ‘sense of the House' resolution that was moved by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on August 27: it has spoken of bringing the lower bureaucracy under the Lokpal “through an appropriate mechanism.”

Thus the government will also take into account the sentiments of the Standing Committee, where all non-Congress parties are rooting for inclusion of the Group C employees; three of the Congress MPs, too, are pressing for it. Sources on the committee said one reason why this is that was because members of Team Anna have been relentlessly lobbying for inclusion of the Group C employees with individual MPs on the panel.

However, the government is still not keen on including the Prime Minister, while still holding office; it wants to stick to the provision in the original government version — that the Prime Minister can be subject to investigation, but only after he demits office. Government sources said that given the current climate, it would be impossible for any government to work under such conditions. On the Standing Committee, more than half the members — by one count 18 of the 30 — were either for not including the Prime Minister at all or for including him only after he demits office.

The parties keenest to include the Prime Minister within the ambit of the Lokpal Bill are the BJP, the Left and the Biju Janata Dal.

Indeed, in the dissent note submitted by the CPI(M)'s A. Sampath, he said the Prime Minister as well as the lower bureaucracy should be brought within the purview of the Bill. He also asked for all MPs to be brought within the ambit, by amending Article 105 of the Constitution “on the lines recommended by the National Commission to review the working of the Constitution;” that the Lokpal should be provided with its own investigation mechanism with exclusive jurisdiction over the Prevention of Corruption Act; that the CBI Director should be selected by the Selection Committee constituted for selecting the chairperson and other members of the Lokpal; and that the Lokpal should be given powers to investigate cases involving business entities.