Opinion - Letters to the Editor   

Lokpal bill

The joint exercise of civil society members and government representatives to draft a strong Lokpal bill is now formally over, with sharp differences on some issues persisting. It would have been naive to expect a total unanimity of views between the two sides, given the radical suggestions put forward by the Anna Hazare team. At the same time, the efforts have not gone waste as certain modifications proposed by the Ministers are an improvement on their earlier draft. The government has a point in limiting the officials who can be subject to the jurisdiction of the Lokpal, instead of bringing millions of its employees under its ambit which would be simply unmanageable.

There can always be more than one opinion on any issue, including whether or not the Prime Minister should be brought under the ambit of the Lokpal. Team Anna should pressure the government and political classes, without adopting a confrontationist approach. Mr. Hazare's threat of going on a fast again from August 16 is unreasonable. Let the law first be passed by Parliament and let the Lokpal start functioning. Changes to make it more effective can always be made later.

S.K. Choudhury,

Bangalore

The fact that the government representatives and Team Anna failed to arrive at a consensus at the final meeting of the joint drafting committee comes as no surprise. Both parties have staunchly stuck to their guns throughout the course of the committee's operation, leaving little room for compromise. Many issues of contention have remained just that, despite endless rounds of deliberations. Given that it was going to be an uphill battle convincing the government representatives to include the Prime Minister, the higher judiciary and the MPs under the Lokpal's purview, the government's stance against merging the CBI and the CVC with the Lokpal shouldn't have come as much of a surprise either.

However, on the face of it, the government draft has proposed to give the Lokpal a quasi-judicial status. It would be unfair to say there has been no progress. But it would be naïve to assume that the key differences will be ironed out in the near future. The Lokpal bill's eventual efficacy hinges upon the sorting out of the deep-rooted differences.

Pradyut Hande,

Mumbai

That the UPA government has left the Prime Minister out of the Lokpal's purview in its draft is unfortunate. In India, Parliament is supreme, not the Prime Minister.

A clean and honest Prime Minister should face no problem even if certain actions of his are probed. His image will not be tarnished. On the contrary, his image will be enhanced and people's faith in him and his government strengthened.

Harsh Kumar,

New Delhi

The need for a strong and viable Lokpal bill has arisen because the democratic process envisaged by the Constituent Assembly has not resulted in an effective parliamentary system or governance even after 60 years of independence. Criminal cases are pending against many lawmakers. Very few elected members have won with more than 50 per cent of votes. There are also Ministers who have never won a direct election. The series of scams over the years has proved that the existing process is unable to check corruption. What we need is a complete rehash of the system and a strong Lokpal bill as presented by Anna Hazare and his civil society team.

Lt. Col. P. Balagopalan (retd.),

Palakkad

The government's approach to the Lokpal bill clearly shows that it has no interest in passing it. Its fate will be the same as that of the Women's Reservation bill, which is yet to be passed. If the institution of a Lokpal is meant to curb corruption in public life, what is the justification for excluding the Prime Minister from its purview?

B. Prabha,

Varkala

As expected, the last meeting of the joint drafting committee ended in disagreement on core issues — the major bone of contention being the Prime Minister's inclusion under the Lokpal's purview. It has now been decided to submit the drafts to the Cabinet. The mood in general appears to be in favour of civil society's draft Jan Lokpal bill. Mr. Hazare is firm on going on a hunger strike from August 16. Under the circumstances, the Cabinet should take a recourse that is not opposed to the public mood.

K. Nehru Patnaik,

Visakhapatnam

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