-The Economic Times The government's version of the lokpal bill gets most things right. The entire executive, represented by its senior layers, including the Prime Minister, comes under its purview. The Central Bureau of Investigation, which deals with all kinds of crime and not just corruption, is rightly kept outside the proposed Lokpal's administrative control but will investigate cases referred to it by the Lokpal. Nor is there any attempt to...
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Think it through
-The Times of India A couple of days back, Prime MinisterManmohan Singh was promised a rose by anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare in the event of a strong lokpal bill. At this moment, however, its the thorns in that rose which stand out. Confrontation is looming over the current shape of the Bill, which is likely to retain administrative government control over the CBI. Anna has reverted swiftly to agitation mode, declaring...
More »Aruna Roy finds holes in grievance bill
-The Times of India Aruna Roy-led National Campaign for People's Right to Information (NCPRI) has supported the grievance redressal bill with some reservations. In a statement,NCPRI said there were "significant lacuna'' in the bill including the fact that provisions for compensation and penalties had not been specified and the designated authority with the powers of a civil court had not been made sufficiently independent of the government. NCPRI also expressed concern that...
More »Then as farce
-The Indian Express Anna Hazare has accused the Centre of “cheating the people” by trying to enact a weak Lokpal, to “save” corrupt politicians. Meanwhile, Prashant Bhushan contends that the CBI chief’s selection was bound to be problematic, given that it would be decided by two politicians (“the prime minister and someone who hopes to someday be prime minister”) and the Chief Justice of India (previous holders of that office having...
More »Government hides more than it reveals in the Food Security Bill by Gargi Parsai
The uncertainty over the lokpal bill has overshadowed an equally significant National Food Security Bill, which was cleared by the Union Cabinet last week and is to be introduced in the Lok Sabha on Thursday. The Bill has been in the eye of the storm over targeted coverage of beneficiaries as against universalisation in view of the immense ramifications for the aam aadmi , struggling with rising food prices. In the second...
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