Hardly any day passes without any news of corruption in India. The root of corruption lies in the inability of the political and administrative authorities to take appropriate action against it. What is Anna Hazare really campaigning for? To Indian citizens, his courageous display of moral outrage represents a crusade against corruption. This is a time when the ruling UPA Administration is beleaguered not only by the surfacing of a number of big-ticket scams but also by its inability to act firmly against the people seen to be the perpetrators.
So what are your views on this topic “Is Lokpal Bill the answer of Corruption”
Word limit is upto 350 and deadline is July 24, 23:59:59
Lokpal bill talks about setting an institution which monitors the happenings and as an extended power can exercise its right and can punish the guilty person irrespective of his post and power. Anna hazare and his social counterparts have been campaigning for a stronger lokpall bill. The annexure presented by this group comprises of 22 points which remain contentious. The differences have been so glaring that Anna has publicly said many times assuming moral responsibility of his words that bill to be presented bill infront of parliament is a joke. This is a clear reflection of apathy of the government in power to frame accordingly. If these micro level details in framing a law are purposefully left out then again the slippages will happen in the system. Some issues need serious attention like the inclusion of prime minister and judiciary of the nation.
ReplyDeleteIf the system is made in a way where purportedly leakages are kept open then lokpal will add to the host of government institutes trying to put a check on corruption. This step will ensure perpetuality of corruption in Indian system till another social uprising against corruption happens. This is a high time when a bold face against corruption is needed because if the brave front is not presented now then there is a risk that corruption may become more endemic and blatant.
Lokpall bill is indeed an answer if:
• Strong political will is shown not only now but continusoly in future also for Lokpal to remain a tangible answer to corruption. Leaders lead by example and this is what Nitish Kumar has done by inviting the team to customize the bill as per the state of Bihar to have a strong lok jan ayukat mechanism.
• Every citizen imbibe the feeling of aligning with the system . Systematic changes require systematic response. Since we all form a part of system we must change our attitude in giving and taking bribes(first step of the ladder).
Even if the institute fails in its mission but if the people realize the spirit and work accordingly then lokpall bill will be a success.
Corruption is a disease which spreads like malaria inspired by various reasons & found in various systems of world . It’s spread can be compared to dengue. Give chance to mosquitoes and dengue spread. We cant kill all mosquitoes of the world & but we need to prevent our self from mosquitoes by keeping area clean and use various mosquitoes control measures like net, chemicals , killers etc. Similar solution exist for corruption ie Firstly, prevention through efficient design & continuous upgradation of system and Secondly effective control Mechanism.
ReplyDeleteLokpal bill which is a 42 year old demand and raised 11th time this year by a social reformer Anna Hazare & many prominent personalities is one such prevention & control method of corruption in political system. Its mission is to give stringent punishment to culprit & bring transparency in present beleaguered political system by involving civil representatives. Thanks to media, which has made comman man aware of various scams in political system of our country because of this they have stood together for Lokpal bill.
So is Lokpal bill answer for corruption ?
No.
Why ?
1- It’s a control mechanism & doesn’t identifies flaws in design part of system(Cause of curroption). Eg 39 lakh cases in High court are pending & to get justice quickly person may give a bribe.Cause of corruption- Delay. We need to design and upgrade systems efficiently which hardly keeps space for corruption apart from control.
2- It surely will answer corruption in political system which plays a big role but not to all systems ie NGOS , health care,educational system and corporate. Eg Share market scams .So Lokpal bill cannot be looked into solution for all system.
Lokpal bill is just a control method and that to into political arena only. But surely it will be able to control wholesale corruptions like 2G, Commonwealth etc. which affects the life of common people indirectly. Thus, Lokpal Bill is a welcome move & model can be taken to other systems. Also we need to ensure that it remains against the corruption not again a corruption.
SANDEEP R THAWANI
Roll no 20111051
PGP 11
There are many laws to curb corruption but everything went in vain because the power is vested with the authorities who are the biggest culprit in the field of corruption.
ReplyDeleteCorruption has existed from time immemorial.
India against Corruption (IAC) is a citizen's movement to demand strong anti-corruption laws. The existing Lokpal Bill is quite toothless and has glaring loopholes which make the whole anti-corruption exercise a sham exercise.
The new Jan Lokpal Bill (Citizen's ombudsman Bill) is designed to create an effective anti-corruption and grievance redressal systems at centre and in states. In effect, the Jan Lokpal Bill wants to arm the Lokpal with powers that combine the Legislative, the Judiciary and the Administrative. The way its creators see it, it can set policy, investigate and prosecute, and sit in judgment in a limited period of time.
Clearly, this version sees no role for the people who have been democratically elected to govern the country. The extreme measures proposed in this ‘people’s version’ are a measure of their unhappiness, frustration and anger within civil society.
I support the movement against corruption but this is not a wholesome solution. I certainly believe that Lokpal at the centre and Lokayukta in each state will empower the citizens against corruption. No wonder politicians will be scared of such a Bill because they would then have to be accountable.
The creation of the Lokpal will be a historic event and when the bill goes through, it will definitely fight corruption and mal-administration. LokPal is only one of the many steps to eradicate the Corruption in Indian society. Corruption cannot be eradicated by any bill, but with the Jan Lokpal Bill, it can be controlled.
Accountability and transparency is what is lacking in Indian Government machinery. Patriotism and honesty comes from within. "Couldn’t, careless" attitude has to go, if India wish to progress.
India may attain the status of global power one day. But to become a super power and to achieve mush faster growth rate, it need to fix the cancer of Corruption first.
Extend your full support to Jan lokpal and make India, a corruption free country.
Jai Hind!!
Ketan Mehta said
ReplyDeleteLokpal bill is the draft against corruption put up by civil activist, the purpose is formation of lokpal, a body that would investigate graft and complete the trial in a year or two.
As of now there are two drafts being presented one is the government draft and other one is the Anna hazare draft. I would like to put the comparison between the two drafts.
Anna hazare draft Government draft
1.PM and higher judiciary under purview of lokpal 1.No PM and higher
judiciary under ambit
of lokpal
2.Conduct of MP to be
included. 2.No MP under purview
3.Removal of any minister
barring PM 3.Cannot remove
4.CBI AND CVC to be merged
with lokpal 4.No
5.CAG AND CEC part of
selection of lokpal 5.No
6.Lokpal to have prosecution
power and tap phones 6. No prosecution
power and tapping
phone on the
permission of home
secretary
7.Punishment of 6 years to
life imprisonment 7.Max 10 years of
prison
Looking at the above two drafts it is quite evident that government has made a joke of lokpal bill. And it is asking the lokpal to fight graft with a wooden sword. The implications are:the corruption would be rampant and public would be the victims of it.
As per the figures quoted by Swiss bank it has a reserve of around 280 lakhs crores rs of India. This figure is sufficient enough to run India without any taxes for the next 30 years. So corruption is a serious concern and must not be dealt with loose strings.
To deal with graft the draft presented by Anna hazare must be accepted and incorporated as lokpal bill without any amendments accept barring the PM from purview, as false allegations may lead to political instability.
However if the standing committee and the cabinet gives a nod to government draft there would be lot of loopholes and chances of corruption. So it quiet depends on the formulation of the draft its features and the most important part is the execution of the draft.
It’s high time.
Jago India Jago...
India has been hit by a spate of corruption scandals that have embarrassed the country
ReplyDeleteTo start with India may have lost up to $39 billion in revenue equivalent to the defence budget as the telecoms ministry gave out lucrative licences and radio spectrum in 2007/08 at below-market prices, the state auditor said in a report.
The scam has led opposition stalling in parliament for many months now with no results
The top anti corruption officials had also been questioned the story is same for housing, common wealth scam and many others
Do we still have to ask the need of jan lokpal bill...
i can only say -
ABHI NAHI THO KABHI NAHI......
KARAN BHAGAT
The level of corruption in India has gone out of proportion. It is already foreshadowing the growth of India’s flourishing economy. Today’s problem is that Corruption and politics are not two separate words, and is a zero-risk high-profit business. The problem is not with the political system but with the corrupted politicians.
ReplyDeleteLokpal Bill seems to be the only snatcher of India from the grim clutches of corruption.
Lokpal - “a measure to conduct an investigation regarding involvements of people with high profiles…
But.... Making noise about corruption, and rooting it out are two different things. Waging war against corruption does not kill it. Corruption only gets reduced but continues to thrive perniciously.
Anna Hazare is supporting the lokpal bill and urging the government to pass it. The idea is that through this bill we are trying to create independent body to arrest the cancerous growth of corruption in our country. But I don’t think, the bill would be passed in the cabinet, people in the cabinet themselves are corrupted. They will be first person to get arrested if the bill is passed.
We don’t need a new Law, but we need a powerful leader who can make political system to work powerfully.
Moreover, powers to the Lokpal will not serve the purpose of curbing corruption because the Law, Criminal Procedure, IPC and the lawyers will remain the same. The attitude towards the system and bypassing it, and banking on the loopholes in law will remain unchanged. In such a situation, the Lokpal system will prove to be as corrupt and inefficient as any other existing regulatory agency or system.
Under the present anti-corruption systems in our country, there is no agency which is independent of the government control and therefore, has the powers to independently investigate and prosecute the guilty. The idea of having a Lokpal as a supreme authority that can bring under its purview anyone runs the risk of jeopardizing governance rather than making it impartial and effective.
The effective eradicator of corruption could be improved living conditions, guaranteed welfare and a robust system of rewarding honesty.
In India corruption is the biggest problem to deal with. According to the theory of Corruption: it may take place Anywhere (In Govt.,Private and general public), by Anyone (From peon to ministers) & Anyhow (even after putting checks). Is Lokpal only solution, probably not. It may curb the corruption in Bureaucracy but fails when it comes to day-to-day life of general public. Railway created an Anti-corruption Department to put check on reservation clerks but still T.T managed to make seat for their Bribe-payers.
ReplyDeleteFew glimpse of daily life of Indian publics.
1.It starts with milkman in morning mixing water in milk.
2.Go send your file/application to Government/Municipal office and soon you come to know that why Indian Government peons rarely put any salary issues, as everyone have to initiate bribe practice from this common entrance point.
3.You are planning to go out of town, make enquiry at Enquiry Counter about Trains and Buses they always resist seeing you but suddenly noticing you when you fed their hungry & greedy stomach.
4.You need to approach to booking counter to make reservation and person at counter shake your soul with rude response forcing you to pay extra amount to make deals.
This harsh response is the biggest source of Corruption as public want to reduce this day-to-day trouble in handling them. As a result of which these factor overweighs the various awareness campaign already in existence. So, the only solution left is to increase the number of campaign, programs & movies focusing on alleviating corruption to meet its Break Even Point soon.
Few Movies such as APARICHIT & LAGE RAHO MUNNABHAI and a Television show OFFICE-OFFICE also made good impact on awareness of the subject.
A speech delivered by Dr. Narayan Murthy on “CORRUPTION FREE INDIA” motivated to prevent corruption.
TATA also made their stand with good message in public by the punch line of TATA TEA:
HAR SUBAH SIRF UTHO MAT JAGOO RE.........
Therefore, AAJ SE KHILANA BANDH, PILANA SHURU. Stop filling the baskets of that greed’s from today onwards. This is something lack in Lokpal to combat corruption faced by general public.
VARUN KUMAR SINGH,
PGP11
LOKPAL bill isn't the only answer; the fact that control mechanism are more effective in the upstream rather downstream: we cannot control fuel driven inflation until we control crude prices.
ReplyDeleteTo look at the flow of the black economy, we can surely say that the tax policies and collections are the causes, while the need for a LOKPAL bill is the remedy to the problem of corruption.
Tax laws in India mostly focus on the middle class society who earn their livelihood through salaries. Never in the 70's, 80's and 90's the Government emphasized on a wholesome policy on tax collection. The small/ medium businessmen who run their businesses on cash payment, be it purchasing a flat to paying grocery bills eluded the taxman and made huge margins. These were some of the crooks who opposed FDI in retail and Real estate fearing the collapse of their safe business model.
Why do we need fuel subsidies; the Government would subsidize your fuel bill but ultimately collect the same from the middle class as tax. The benefit of subsidy would be enjoyed by all (including those who evade taxes) but the fiscal deficit would be managed by a few. Why does the middle class need to subsidize fuel for a rich real estate dealer?
Tax collection should be ad-valorem on each and every product and should be collected at the earliest source of the manufacturing cycle. The more deep it penetrates into the system, tax collection would be difficult. Thus it is better to tax crude oil heavily when it comes to your ports (import) and not depend on downstream tax collections where there would be many evaders.
Finally LOKPAL Bill may be a good concepts, but in India it is routine for powers to be misused; the Government misuses the CBI, maybe the opposition would misuse the LOKPAL.
Is Lokpal bill the answer to India's biggest problem – “corruption”??
ReplyDeleteThe answer may not be too obvious at this point of time. What's obvious though, is "it's a start". Well, something is always better than nothing. In order to comment on whether Lokpal bill is answer to our country's problems, one should first know what Lokpal bill really is. Lokpal bills were introduced several times since 1968, yet they were never passed by the Indian Parliament. After a fast by veteran social activist “Anna Hazare” and widespread protests by citizens across India the Government of India constituted a 10-member Joint Committee of ministers and civil society activists to draft an effective Jan Lokpal Bill. The Jan Lokpal Bill is a proposed anti-corruption law designed to effectively deter corruption, redress grievances and protect whistleblowers. The law would create an ombudsman called the Lokpal; this would be an independent body similar to the Election Commission of India with the power to prosecute politicians and bureaucrats without prior government permission. It's members will be appointed by judges, Indian Administrative Service officers with a clean record, private citizens and constitutional authorities through a transparent and participatory process. Corruption in India, as we know, is a perfectly organised "process". Infact, it deserves "six sigma" certificate! It starts from the top and goes down according to the lowest level of our political hierarchy. The citizens of our country are so used to it nowadays, as if it were legally a part of the system. We have umpteen capital lying wasted in foreign banks as "Black money", thanks to this organised sector of corruption. Lokpal bill comes as a ray of hope for our country and its "shackled" economy. There are many apprehensions associated with the bill such as, who will keep a check on the Lokpal members? Will the members be able to make any significant impact? etc. etc. All these questions can be asked only when the Lokpal bill passes and it is quite evident that it is going to have a hard time doing just that. After all, it’s our "sincere" bureaucrats who are the source of this parasitic problem of corruption.
Whatever be the fate of the bill, I and many others like me, see it as a silver lining and we are here to support anyone who wants to tackle the problem of corruption and help India prosper like she really deserves.
Kanwardyal Singh aka KD
PGP10
Corruption is like a coin, having equally balanced both positive and negative side or pain and pleasure. The positive side chiefly utilized with lot of purpose for making a way out in cluttered systematic process approvals which we call “juggad” many a times. The multi-ladder process approval from bottom to top may be the reason behind negative side of the corruption. The pleasure of making way out comes with pain several times like whatever happened with poor UPA government in recent past. This is without any official record of congress member involved, as all government official caught are of other allied parties.
ReplyDeleteThe Lokpal movement has already initiated way back in 1960s with the purpose of involving social activist, government official, investigation agencies and judiciary officials. This sounds nothing less than four pillars of constitution in democratic country like India. Earlier in 60s and 70s, the government officials has restricted citizens (which in turn business people and others) by imposing acts like License Raj and Monopolistic Restriction Trade Policies (MRTP) by which the company has to grow in specified limit which follows liberalization in early 90s. This proves that India implemented democracy first then capitalism or not aligning with capitalistic culture like many other countries since independence. Sometimes, many experts call “crony capitalism” due to favoritism by government to their concerned organizations. Capitalism allows the government to prepare business-friendly policies which in turn affect positively to growth structure and culture of the nation. The other side of capitalism is gap between rich and poor. The structure of the capitalism is one of the solution to end corruption but in structured form with considering unbiased policy preparation.
The revival of Lokpal bill initiated by Anna Hazare is revolutionary move which is hitting nail on head of the government. However, the recent meeting of the government and Jan team has discussed the investigative capacity and power. The prime focus is reducing level of corruption, but for long term this enables in reducing the multi-ladder system approval process and making it more transparent. This was only designed and expected while formulating the constitution.
Hi to all my friends,
ReplyDeleteI just want to ask a Single Question:
Just think is it practical, to have a Strong Lokpal Bill, as suggested by Anna Hazare?
First of all is u thinking that our politicians are fool? And they will cut the branch of a tree on which they are sitting? Remember they are in parliament because they do posses something, something greater than the general man, ability to influence the people, a long experience of politics, they know how to get the work done, and the last but not the least they have- a common sense.
Under extreme conditions they may leave there carrier, but will definitely don’t want to go to jail for life long.
Most of my friends are assuming that, all the politicians are corrupt. But this is not the case, there are some politicians who are really doing good jobs and even they also have cases against them (I will not like to name anyone here), those cases may be fake. And remember politics is something u can’t play as simply as it seems to be.
And suppose if a Strong Lokpal Bill will come into existence anyhow, look at the implications:
Assume half the number of our politicians and bureaucrats will be in jail within six months, and then who will govern the Government? Who will take the decisions regarding the future of millions of Indians? U can’t simply give these jobs to a novice person. Don’t be a part of people who can only see the negative part of personality of someone, everyone have some negatives, U can’t deny this fact.
Things do happen, but gradually. Our constitution is an excellent one, written by a genius, there is distribution of power among four basic pillars. Don’t try to concentrate that power at one place, it seems good as a short term solution but it may have implications far more reaching.
According to my opinion- what we can do is give some more power to CAG, execution powers. Make CBI out of control of the hands of Government.
If things can be changed by smaller changes then we should not go for such huge changes, which can shake the whole system. By the way what’s the contingency plan for Lokpal Bill.
Vikas Punia
Roll No. 20111060
PGP 11.
The concept of a LOKPAL is borrowed from the eastern European countries, who have a parliament appointed Ombudsman looking into enforcements of various acts and investigation of complaints of maladministration against central government authorities. At the grass roots level, there is a Panchayat tat solves problems amongst warring factions. However in such cases the ombudsman has the trust and faith of both camps and the final decision is rarely opposed. This is one of few contentious issues that the citizen group India against corruption and the UPA Government refuse to come to a consensus to. Main bone(s) of contention is the power given to the Lokpal committee.
ReplyDeleteThe Bill proposed by the goverment makes the Lokpal look like a joke by excluding the prime minister and senior government officers from its net. Moreover looking closely, it can be said that everything is ideal on paper.
It’s the proper implementation that would make this a good law or it would only be a partial success ala RTI. If bill as suggested by the Anna team is not implemented , the Act would be nothing short of a futile exercise and the committee nothing but a puppet of power hungry politicos. Any influential person could work his way through the committee members and walk away freely .
The biggest drawback of the Lokpal Bill is that it is not preventive in its design. It assumes that fear of punishment itself would be an adequate deterrent. It does not focus on the root cause leading to the germination of the corrupt practices and later rectify it. It also does not suggest any ways to recover the siphoned funds.
Relying on the bill alone would be a major crime in itself. What we require is change in mindset and resistance to the tendency of offering a bribe and getting away easily from the day to day hassles for a better present than a better tomorrow. We as citizens and the people working with the government need to play an important role. Technology can prove to be of utmost help in this fight against corruption. It can help us in keeping the process transparent
The word Lokpal means an ombudsman (Legal Representative) in India. The word has been derived from the Sanskrit words "loka" (people) and "pala" (protector/caretaker). So the word Lokpal means 'protector of people'. The concept of Lokpal has been drawn up to root out corruption at all levels in the prevailing Indian polity. The First Lok Pal bill was introduced by Shanti Bhushan in 1971 but over the years the Bill never got passed.
ReplyDeleteBut Off late the talks of Lok Pal bill has really gained momentum among the masses when the entire issue was raised by prominent civil society activists like Anna Hazare, Arvind Khejriwal, Shanti Bhushan, Kiran bedi and Mallika Sarabahi. The movement got the real impetus through the fast to death Satyagraha launched by Anna Hazare to tackle the scourge of corruption which has really dented the political image of the current government UPA. The recent corruption scandals of CWG games, 2G Spectrum, KG Basin, Scams involving CVC chief Thomas, Supreme Court Justice KG Balakrishnan & Dinakaran has really hampered the political process and morally upright citizens have lost the respect in the institutional process of governance. As a result the Lok Pal bill has really struck chord with the masses and the media.
All the salient features as proposed by the drafting committee have really got strong support from the civil society but there are certain clauses which has raised furore from the political leadership. The whole question of the Lok Pal Bill including the Prime Minister and the Chief Justice of Supreme Court under its ambit raises question marks over the Constitution of the country being drafted by Dr Ambedkar.
The Jan Lokpal seeks to create parallel dispension at the central and State levels with Lok Pal officer exercising supreme clout over the judiciary and the Prime Minister. This raises a whole spectrum of questions of the efficacy of the grievance redressal mechanism proposed by the bill and can disrupt the existing procedure of political process that democracy proposes.
Thus we need to make sure that the cure to the disease is not worse than the disease and might not end up with a Frankenstein structure.
Lokpal Bill is just a small step to have a corruption free society.
ReplyDeleteWe can’t really rely on a single Law like Lokpal Bill to eradicate corruption from our system. The bill drafted by the Civil society covers most of the loop holes that exists in our current system. But just drafting a law doesn’t mean that we can have a corruption free society. We already have a couple of anti – corruption laws but they are ineffective. So the problem doesn’t lie in drafting a strong anti-corruption law. The main point is in implementing those laws.
Giving all the powers to a single body may not serve the cause as absolute power makes a system more corrupt and moreover it will create a parallel system. Under democracy we already have legislative, executive and judiciary to run the system with their pre-defined roles. Creating a parallel system with the absolute power may back fire the whole motive in the long run.
As mentioned in the draft the Lokpal committee will be accountable to the people of India. Right now the legislatures are also accountable to the people but still they make a way out of it in case of any malpractice. So what if the same happens with Lokpal? The Lokpal should only be given power to investigate and give recommendation to judiciary.
And to have corruption free system we need a strong political will to reform the existing system making it more effective then only the bills like Lokpal will work otherwise it will be another inefficacious law.
Anna Hazare, spearheading the anti-corruption movement, has taken the fight to a massive level. For the youth and the growing middle class population of India, this was indeed felt as a defining moment in democracy, even equating it to the Egyptian upsurge. But the comparison is juvenile for we are not a Egypt style autocracy but a democracy.
ReplyDeleteAgreed, the popular masses’ anger that we are seeing now is actually a protest against the state of our democracy itself. But in the jingoistic applause of the Lokpal, we'll however have to have cautious optimism regarding the terms of the Bill.
The draft Jan Lokpal bill envisages a Lokpal who will combine in itself the powers of making law, implementing the law, and punishing those who break the law. Do we really want to concentrate so much power in one entity’s hands? Sorry, this is not democracy.
The appointment of the Lokpal will include Bharat Ratna awardees, Nobel prize winners of Indian origin, Magasaysay award winners, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, the Chief Election Commissioner and people from such ranks. Sorry, these people do not represent the masses.
Setting up a super-state body, with such institutional powers, governed by the elite, will only intensify the concentration of power and nothing fosters corruption like unrestrained, concentrated power.
Besides, the method of fasting unto death for a political cause in a constitutional democracy, for every other demand can indeed amount to blackmailing.
If we, as a society, have indeed reached the tolerance limits of corruption, there are various other things to be thought upon as well. Strengthen the RTI Act- covering areas like security and defense. Protecting the whistle blowers, as suggested in the draft Lokpal is indeed a welcome measure. Why not extend it to RTI? There are various anti-corruption laws in place. Why not make the Lokpal more broad-based to look into the functioning of those, without giving in to autocracy?
Among the slogans of ‘cleansing society of corruption’, any doubts on the pious Bill have been branded as cynicism. But it is better to look into what we are wishing for, rather than just promote wishful thinking.