The draft bill seeks to create an institution that will be independent of those it seeks to police, and will have powers to investigate and prosecute all public servants, and others found guilty of corrupting them. A number of commentators have raised issues about the provisions in the draft of the Jan Lokpal Bill. They have asked whether it would be an effective instrument to check corruption. They have pointed to...
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Why tar all politicians with the same brush? by Madhu Purnima Kishwar
We should be grateful to Anna Hazare for dedicating his life to the people and battling for accountability in governance. Millions look to him for inspiration and guidance. We are all sick of mismanagement, venality and the lack of accountability that plague not only governance but also other institutions, including many NGOs that call themselves “civil society” institutions, the term made fashionable by international donor agencies. The support base of this...
More »Breaching citadels by Harsh Mander
That accountability is vital in a democracy was reinforced at a National Convention of the National Campaign for the People's Right to Information held in Shillong recently… If governments do not investigate corruption, people should have the right and power to do so themselves. When the idea of a people's legal right to information took initial shape in the dusty villages of Rajasthan nearly two decades ago amidst people's struggles for...
More »Lokpal Bill: Aruna Roy for “broad, public consultation” by Vidya Subrahmaniam
The Aruna Roy-led Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sanghtan (MKSS) has asked for “broad public consultation, across groups and regions” to precede the joint drafting of the Lokpal Bill by civil society and United Progressive Alliance Ministers. In a signed statement, Ms. Roy, Nikhil Dey and Shankar Singh of the MKSS congratulated Anna Hazare and his group on the “large scale mobilisation of people against corruption” and on the creation of “space for...
More »Give up fast, your views will get full attention: Sonia
Draft proposed by the Government of India is inadequate and will not serve the purpose, says CPI(M); BJP agrees and disagrees with HazareAs support to the agitation by veteran social activist Anna Hazare in favour of ‘Jan Lokpal Bill' gathered momentum, Congress president and the Chairperson of the National Advisory Council (NAC) Sonia Gandhi on Thursday said his views would receive the ‘full attention' of the government and appealed to...
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