I have kept the title simple since nothing fancy is required to pull people's attention towards this! But in this post I won't be putting forth my views but a mere report on what Dr. Ashwin Mahesh ,co-ordinator for IAC Bangalore spoke at the Gokhale Institute of Public Affairs whom I had a chance to listen to. I am not writing this just to tell you that I had been there but that he offered a brilliant and practical insight into the Jan Lokpal which is definitely worth sharing. Of course it is not going to be a detailed report but points that specially caught my attention.
It is all fine to say that we need an anti corruption body but there are a few difficulties that will be faced . Most of the staff in this body will be deputed rather than independent. Now how can anybody expect a person to investigate the department he actually belongs to when he knows that he has to go back as soon as his term is over.Also it is very difficult for immediate investigation to be launched since powers given to them are not sufficient. Even if they do find culprits, they can only 'recommend' something rather than take action!! :D
All our elected representatives like to remind us that they are elected but they seem to be forgetting that they are our representatives! They keep harping about how the Parliament is 'Supreme' but forget who helped make it.Our so-called 'supreme' Parliament hasn't voted down a bill since 27 years!! And once 18 bills have been passed in 2 minutes!! a record time indeed!Yet they have been 'unable' to pass the Lokpal bill though it has been introduced more than 8 times. That too a version that is so dilute. All so clearly shows how 'serious' the government is in policy making and how much our dear MPs know the bills they passed. Most of them don't even read it and just say 'aye' since their parties ask them to.
There are a few fundamental questions we need to ask :
- What is corruption?
- Who should be the Lokpal?
-Can Lokpal launch suo moto investigation?
-Can it have its own machinery and finances?
-Can it initiate prosecution?
-Should IAS and IPS officers be punished?
-Should the judiciary be covered?
-Should the prime minister be covered?
-Should legislative conduct be covered?
The government and the civil society have answers to these or rather we must probably call them opinions. Some of them are being debated upon in the drafting committee and some of them ignored for their own good. There will be new questions each time and answers may not be immediate or very satisfactory. Unfortunately what the five ministers call 'government opinion' is not so. In fact most of the MPs are not even bothered about answering these since all they have to do is either say 'aye' or 'nay' whatever their party tells them to! And they go about questioning if the civil society members 'represent' the society! Is this democratic??
Now most of the people ask "how is it going to benefit me?" Dr. Ashwin has some very valid points-
* Our representatives will truly become 'public servants'. They will do what they are actually supposed to do..serve people!
*Resources will be used better. People are already thinking about how black money could've been put to use.
*Administrative machinery will become more local which is the need of the day since we interact much more with the local bodies like the RTO rather than the MPs.
*Processes and public services will be more transparent, efficient and easily available.
*Most importantly, It will reinforce the idea that citizens are supreme in a democracy (not the parliament as they claim) which will give people a hope to survive and feel that things are going in the right direction.
A thing to keep in mind is that all the goals are long term and Lokpal is not a quick and magical solution to all the existing problems. But surely we are headed in the right direction!
Corruption saaku
Jan Lokpal beku!
It is all fine to say that we need an anti corruption body but there are a few difficulties that will be faced . Most of the staff in this body will be deputed rather than independent. Now how can anybody expect a person to investigate the department he actually belongs to when he knows that he has to go back as soon as his term is over.Also it is very difficult for immediate investigation to be launched since powers given to them are not sufficient. Even if they do find culprits, they can only 'recommend' something rather than take action!! :D
All our elected representatives like to remind us that they are elected but they seem to be forgetting that they are our representatives! They keep harping about how the Parliament is 'Supreme' but forget who helped make it.Our so-called 'supreme' Parliament hasn't voted down a bill since 27 years!! And once 18 bills have been passed in 2 minutes!! a record time indeed!Yet they have been 'unable' to pass the Lokpal bill though it has been introduced more than 8 times. That too a version that is so dilute. All so clearly shows how 'serious' the government is in policy making and how much our dear MPs know the bills they passed. Most of them don't even read it and just say 'aye' since their parties ask them to.
There are a few fundamental questions we need to ask :
- What is corruption?
- Who should be the Lokpal?
-Can Lokpal launch suo moto investigation?
-Can it have its own machinery and finances?
-Can it initiate prosecution?
-Should IAS and IPS officers be punished?
-Should the judiciary be covered?
-Should the prime minister be covered?
-Should legislative conduct be covered?
The government and the civil society have answers to these or rather we must probably call them opinions. Some of them are being debated upon in the drafting committee and some of them ignored for their own good. There will be new questions each time and answers may not be immediate or very satisfactory. Unfortunately what the five ministers call 'government opinion' is not so. In fact most of the MPs are not even bothered about answering these since all they have to do is either say 'aye' or 'nay' whatever their party tells them to! And they go about questioning if the civil society members 'represent' the society! Is this democratic??
Now most of the people ask "how is it going to benefit me?" Dr. Ashwin has some very valid points-
* Our representatives will truly become 'public servants'. They will do what they are actually supposed to do..serve people!
*Resources will be used better. People are already thinking about how black money could've been put to use.
*Administrative machinery will become more local which is the need of the day since we interact much more with the local bodies like the RTO rather than the MPs.
*Processes and public services will be more transparent, efficient and easily available.
*Most importantly, It will reinforce the idea that citizens are supreme in a democracy (not the parliament as they claim) which will give people a hope to survive and feel that things are going in the right direction.
A thing to keep in mind is that all the goals are long term and Lokpal is not a quick and magical solution to all the existing problems. But surely we are headed in the right direction!
Corruption saaku
Jan Lokpal beku!
Really nice post. Many people aren't aware that bodies in the fight against corruption presently are toothless. Look at our state- Santhosh Hegde is a laughing stock for politicians...Lets hope parliament passes a strong LOkpal in the monsoon session..Until then lets agitate on the streets "Corruption saaku
ReplyDeleteJan Lokpal beku!
"
Nice post!! :)
ReplyDeleteThe main problem is that the MPs think that India is a 5-yr dictatorship, rather than a democracy!! Yes, the Jan Lokpal bill, if implemented, would be the best thing that would happen to Independent India. It has the potential to set India right.
But there is a fine line to be noticed here. As you give a body more and more powers, it starts "ruling" more and more. Similarly, if u give the Lokpal, as per Jan Lokpal bill, so many powers, it would be THE MOST powerful body in the country. Its fine if the Lokpal is a nice person with good work ethics, but what if he/she is not? We'll be taking a gamble then...
I think the President must be given powers to dismiss the Lokpal if necessary (i think he already has, acc to the bill??), and the President himself/herself must be immune to the Lokpal at the same time! For the same reason, the president must be an apolitical person. It gets pretty complicated...which is why everyone says the Lokpal is not the final solution, but only a part of it.
Thank u!!:)
ReplyDeleteOn one side people are scared that very less powers will make lokpal a non functioning name sake entity while on the other hand worried that too many powers will make it dangerous.
The truth is Lokpal will NEVER become THE MOST powerful body simply because the legislators won't allow it to be! Its like a bargain..the more you ask for, the lesser you get so here they are asking for more since they know they won't get all that they've asked for!! :D
One common doubt all of us have is what if the Lokpal is the villain instead of the savior..well the search committee will consist of a few political leaders like member of the opposition of both the houses and CVC,CAG,CEC heads, a few members of the judiciary etc. The probabiltiy that they will all together find that wrong person is very less. And even if it unfortunately happens, people can complain against the Lokpal and file a case in the court and the rest continues..its not like it is going to be the Ultimate in any respect.There is enough room for complaints!! :)