Anna Hazare “Reengineers Satyagraha” against Corruption
It seems that the anger-volcano has, finally, erupted from the hearts of Indians. People of the nation have been exhausted with the overdose of corruption news that has marred the image of the
nation so far. Corruption allegations against most of the political leaders and the inaction from the government’s side compelled the “aamadmi” to join the protest of the anti-graft crusader
Anna Hazare. Intensifying his crusade against corruption, noted anti-corruption activist Anna Hazare recently shook the roots of the government by starting a fast unto death demanding that his draft of the Lokpal bill be accepted by the government. Ignoring an appeal by the prime minister’s office (PMO), Hazare started his protest at Jantar Mantar. His basic demand was the establishment of a joint committee for drafting the Lokpal bill. Several people including former top cop Kiran Bedi and social activist Swamy Agnivesh pledged their support to Hazare. Anna Hazare’s fast seemed to have reengineered the satyagraha in the nation but this time the enemy is no outsiders. This time the target is the corrupt and the corruption. Beginning his fast the Gandhian Hazare said “We will fast unto death until the government enacts the Jan Lokpal Bill which is most necessary to fight corruption in our country,”
Contribution of Anna Hazare:
Kisan Bapat Baburao Hazare, well known as Anna Hazare is widely recognized for his immense contribution towards development of Ralegan Siddhi village situated in the Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra. He undertook to establish it as a model village; he organized the youth of the village into an organization named the Tarun Mandal (Youth Association) and directed them to make the village free of curse of alcohol. He had done all what is possible to make the village of Ralegan Siddhi an ideal village to live, whether it is the water shed development programme for the village, its educational infrastructure and all the other basic facilities were developed in the village itself. For this effort he was awarded the Padma Bhushan by Government of India in 1992.Hazare was also a pioneer in launching the Right to Information movement in Maharashtra, which forced the government of Maharashtra to amend the Maharashtra RTI Act in 2003 with stronger and stiffer provisions. Now the dynamic minded Anna has fast become the idol of India’s young generation, as the man who will fight against corruption. Young citizens joined his campaign for fight against corruption from all the corners of the country. Some of the prominent awards won by him are: (i) Indira Priyadarshini Vrikshamitra award, 1986 (ii) Shriomani Award, 1996 (iii) Care India Award, 1998 (iv) National Integration Award, 1999 (v) World Bank’s 2008 Jit Gill Memorial Award for Outstanding Public Service, 2008.
Prominent book written by Anna Hazare: (a) Vat hi Sangarshachi” in Marathi.
Understanding the Jan Lok Pal Bill and its relevance: The Jan Lokpal Bill (Citizen’s ombudsman Bill) is a draft anti-corruption bill drawn up by prominent civil society activists seeking the appointment of a Jan Lokpal, an independent body that would investigate corruption cases, complete the investigation within a year and envisages trial in the case getting over in the next one year. The bill is drafted by Justice Santosh Hegde (former Supreme Court Judge and present Lokayukta of Karnataka), Prashant Bhushan (Supreme Court Lawyer) and Arvind Kejriwal (RTI activist), the draft Bill envisages a system where a corrupt person found guilty would go to jail within two years of the complaint being made and his ill-gotten wealth being confiscated. It also seeks power to the Jan Lokpal to prosecute politicians and bureaucrats without government permission. Anna Hazare, anti-corruption crusader, began his fast-unto-death demanding that this bill, drafted by the civil society, be adopted. The “India Against Corruption” movement calls the Lokpal Bill of the government an “eyewash” and wants the government to adopt the bill prepared by it.
A look at the salient features of Jan Lokpal Bill:
(a) An institution called LOKPAL at the centre and LOKAYUKTA in each state to be set up. (b) Like Supreme Court and Election Commission, they will be completely independent of the governments. No minister or bureaucrat will be able to influence their investigations. (c) Cases against corrupt people will not linger on for years anymore: Investigations in any case will have to be completed in one year. Trial should be completed in next one year so that the corrupt politician, officer or judge is sent to jail within two years. (d) If any work of any citizen is not done in prescribed time in any government office, Lokpal will impose financial penalty on guilty officers, which will be given as compensation to the complainant. (e) It will be the duty of the Lokpal to provide protection to those who are being victimized for raising their voice against corruption.
Joint Drafting Committee setup by Government of India to prepare the draft Lok Pal Bill: - Bending before the widespread anti-corruption wave caused due to the Hazare’s protest and his fast the government issued a notification constituting a Joint Drafting Committee to prepare a draft of the Lok Pal Bill. The Joint Drafting Committee consists of five nominee Ministers of the Government of India and Five nominees of Anna Hazare (including himself).
The five nominee Ministers of the Government of India are as under:
- Pranab Mukherjee, Union Minister of Finance.
- P. Chidambaram, Union Minister of Home Affairs.
- Dr VeerappaMoily, Union Minister of Law and Justice.
- Kapil Sibal, Union Minister of Human Resource and Development and Minister of Communication and Information Technology
- Salman Khursheed, Union Minister of Water Resources and Minister of Minority Affairs.
The five nominees of Anna Hazare (including himself) are as under:
- Anna Hazare
- Justice N. Santosh Hedge
- Shanti Bhushan, Senior Advocate
- PrashanBhushan, Advocate
- ArvindKejriwal.
The Joint Drafting Committee has been tasked to complete its work latest by 30th June, 2011.
Will Jan Lokpal bill really end the menace of corruption and the role of Civil Society in dictating policy formulation:
We should appreciate the fact that the campaign of Anna Hazare to exert pressure on the Government of India to enact a strong anti-corruption act as envisaged in the Jan Lokpal Bill gained unprecedented and spontaneous momentum, the logicality of his struggle remains disputed because it is doubtful whether the draft Jan Lokpal bill can be accepted in total and can strict anti-corruption laws prevent corruption in the government institutions. It was in 1969 the first Lokpal Bill was passed in the Lok Sabha but could not get through in Rajya Sabha and now after 42 years from there, the Lokpal Bill is still pending in India. The Jan Lokpal Bill or the Citizen’s Ombudsman Bill is a draft anti-corruption bill drawn up by prominent civil society activists that would pave the way for a Jan Lokpal, an independent body which would have the power to prosecute politicians and bureaucrats without government permission. Its passage naturally creates a big doubt.
Coming to the role of civil society in policy formulation and evaluation, we need to remember that in a parliament-ary setup the civil society should be welcomed but it cannot be working on behalf of Parliament in law making. We need to understand that the proposed bill is not a permanent cure against corruption but the battle must go on. No one can take over the prerogative of Parliament and the civil society can only suggest their views outside it. Nonetheless, the supporters of the proposed draft demands for the joint committee only which they think can give the commission its sanctity. Giving more powers to Lokpal will not serve the purpose of curbing corruption. The struggle against corruption has a long way to go even after the bill is passed. Mere passing of the bill should not be our goal.
Understanding the Lokpal Bill:
Ombudsman refers to such an institutional setup that provides relief to the grievances of the receivers of the public services against corruption and maladministration. For the redressal of citizen’s grievances various nations have established various offices called variously as, Ombudsman, Parliamen-tary commissioners, Lokpal etc. It was one of the recommendations of the ARC, 1966 that the institution of Lokpal be setup in India. Lokpal Bill is a measure to conduct an investigation regarding involvements of people with high profiles (Prime Ministers, Chief Justice of India (CJI) and so on) in corruption cases. The bill will provide speedy, cheaper form of justice to people against corruption. The Lokpal bill will not wait for any permission from the high commission to begin the inquiry into the alleged irregularities and corruption charges against political leaders, judge’s or even the Chief Justice of India (CJI). In the proposed system, politicians will not have any say in selections of chairperson and members of Lokpal. Loss caused to government will be recovered from accused. The punishment, if found guilty will be 5 years to maximum life term in the proposed system. Right now the punishment is 6 months to maximum 7 years. However, Lokpal Bills were introduced in the Parliament several times (1969, 1971, 1977, 1985, 1989, 1996, 1998, 2001, 2005 and in 2008) but failed to be passed all these times.
A Brief History of the Bill:
The first mention of an anti-corruption ombudsman (Lokpal) was made in the early 1960s when Jawaharlal Nehru was the Prime Minister. But it was in 1966 that a Lokpal was proposed at the Centre and Lokayuktas in states. In 1968, a Lokpal Bill was presented for the first time in the fourth LokSabha. The House passed it in 1969. But while it was pending in RajyaSabha, the LS was dissolved. The Bill was revived in 1971, 1977, 1985, 1989, 1996, 1998 and 2001. But each time, it was referred to some committee of Parliament and the Bill is still to see the light of the day.
