Anna hazare and Lokpal bill then Corruption
History of Anna hazare
Anna Hazare was born as Kisan Baburao Hazare on January 15,1940 in Bhingar,Ahmednagar district in Maharashtra. This well-known social worker hails from a modest background. His father was an unskilled laborer and they owned 5 acres of cultivable land. Adverse farming conditions pushed their family into the grip of poverty and in 1952 Hazare moved into his ancestral home in Ralegan Siddhi. He was brought up by a childless aunt who financed his education in Mumbai but financial instability pushed him into selling flowers for a living and he had to quit studies after class VII. Soon after he was recruited in the Indian Army and trained as a truck driver and was given a posting in Punjab. His days in the Army were spent in reading books by great philosophers like Swami Vivekananda, Mahatma Gandhi and Acharya Vinoba Bhave. Their thoughts inspired him to devote his life to social work. Two near-fatal mishaps in the 1965 war with Pakistan changed his outlook towards life and seeking voluntary retirement from the army he returned to his ancestral village in 1975. Ralegan Siddhi, his ancestral village, was then in the grip of drought and poverty.
Aim of anna hazare
Very few social activists have captured the attention of Indians across the globe as Anna Hazare did during his "fast unto death" over the issue of the Lokpal Bill in New Delhi in April 2011. Hazare, a Gandhian by belief, outlook and practice, has become the face of India's fight against corruption. During his fast over the Lokpal Bill, Hazare, a quintessential traditional Indian by looks and mannerism, managed to inspire and mobilize the support of even the ultra-modern Indians - Indians for whom the word "social" only means having a profile on social networking sites. The "Anna Hazare fast" can be described as the first real "social networking movement" in India. Hazare, a former Army man, began his social activism from Ralegan Siddhi, a village in Ahmednagar district in Maharashtra, where he successfully led a movement against alcoholism and made Ralegan Siddhi a "model village". Hazare's campaign was instrumental in the implementation of the Right to Information Act in Maharashtra, which is considered one of the best RTI Acts in India. A Ramon Magsaysay award winner, Anna Hazare, like his idol, Mahatma Gandhi, has triggered a debate over the use of fast as a means of protest in India. By sheer commitment and simplicity, he has demonstrated that Gandhian principles are relevant even in the 21st-century India.
what is lokpal bill ?
Citizens' Ombudsman Bill or Jan Lokpal Vidheyak (in Hindi) is a proposed anti-corruption law designed to effectively nail out corruption, redress complaints and protect whistleblowers. According to designed bill made by some members of 'India Against Corruption (IAC)', a movement against corruption in the government's bodies, "Jan Lokpal Bill" would work as an independent powerful institution like Election Commission of India and Supreme Court that would prevent corruption in government machinery, redress corruption grievances within a year and penalise the guilty no matter what he/she/they is/are without the interfering of the government.
the loopholes of the Lokpal Bill by the Government is the According to the current version of Lokpal Bill, Lokpal will not have any power to either initiate action suo motu in any case or even receive complaints of corruption from public. This is making the Lokpal bill useless. But according to the Jan Lokpal Bill, full powers to initiate investigations suo motu in any case and also to directly entertain complaints from the public. This is something very important and needs to be addressed by the Government and we see most of the political parties finding this as a threat to them.
The first Jan Lokpal bill was introduced in the parliament in 1969, 42 years ago in the 4th Lok Sabha, which was passed but it failed in the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Parliament. Since then the bill were introduced in the Parliament nine times - 1971, 1977, 1985, 1989, 1996, 1998, 2001, 2005 and 2008, but every times it was failed to pass out.
The version of proposed Jan Lokpal Bill drafted by IAC is version 2.2 while the government's drafted Lokpal bill 2010's version is 2.3, according to government's website.
The Lokpal Bill version 2.2 was drafted by Justice Santosh Hegde (former Supreme Court Judge and present Lokayukta of Karnataka), Shanti Bhushan, Former Minister of Law and Justice, Prashant Bhushan (Supreme Court Lawyer) and Arvind Kejriwal (RTI activist). Social Activist Anna Hazare and former IPS officer Kiran Bedi are also the members of IAC.
There are several differences in both versions claimed by IAC movement members.
Here are the Salient features of Jan Lokpal bill version 2.2:
1. An institution called LOKPAL at the centre and LOKAYUKTA in each state will be set up.
2. A complete independent powerful institutions like Supreme Court and Election Commission; No minister or bureaucrat will be able to influence their investigations.
3. 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.
4. A selection committee will invite short listed candidates for interviews, video recordings of which will thereafter be made public.
5. Lokpal and Lokayukta will publish a list of cases dealt with, brief details of each, their outcome and any action taken or proposed on their website every months. Moreover, the lists of all cases received, dealt and pending during the previous month will also be published.
6. Investigations of each case must be completed in one year. The trials for that case would be concluded in the following year so that the corrupt politician, officer or judge is sent to jail within two years.
7. Losses caused to the government by a corrupt individual will be recovered at the time of conviction.
8. Lokpal will have the authority to penalise the concerned person responsible for delay in work, carelessness and other reasons that hurt any citizen's work. The institution (Lokpal and Lokayukta) will slap financial penalties that will be given as compensation to the complainant.
9. Complaints against any officer of Lokpal will be investigated and completed within a month and, if found to be substantive, will result in the officer being dismissed within two months.
10. The existing anti-corruption agencies (CVC, departmental vigilance and the anti-corruption branch of the CBI) will be merged into Lokpal. Lokpal will have complete powers and machinery to independently investigate and prosecute any officer, judge or politician.
11. Whistleblowers who alert the agency to potential corruption cases will also be provided with protection by it.
The version of proposed Jan Lokpal Bill drafted by IAC is version 2.2 while the government's drafted Lokpal bill 2010's version is 2.3, according to government's website.
The Lokpal Bill version 2.2 was drafted by Justice Santosh Hegde (former Supreme Court Judge and present Lokayukta of Karnataka), Shanti Bhushan, Former Minister of Law and Justice, Prashant Bhushan (Supreme Court Lawyer) and Arvind Kejriwal (RTI activist). Social Activist Anna Hazare and former IPS officer Kiran Bedi are also the members of IAC.
There are several differences in both versions claimed by IAC movement members.
Here are the Salient features of Jan Lokpal bill version 2.2:
1. An institution called LOKPAL at the centre and LOKAYUKTA in each state will be set up.
2. A complete independent powerful institutions like Supreme Court and Election Commission; No minister or bureaucrat will be able to influence their investigations.
3. 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.
4. A selection committee will invite short listed candidates for interviews, video recordings of which will thereafter be made public.
5. Lokpal and Lokayukta will publish a list of cases dealt with, brief details of each, their outcome and any action taken or proposed on their website every months. Moreover, the lists of all cases received, dealt and pending during the previous month will also be published.
6. Investigations of each case must be completed in one year. The trials for that case would be concluded in the following year so that the corrupt politician, officer or judge is sent to jail within two years.
7. Losses caused to the government by a corrupt individual will be recovered at the time of conviction.
8. Lokpal will have the authority to penalise the concerned person responsible for delay in work, carelessness and other reasons that hurt any citizen's work. The institution (Lokpal and Lokayukta) will slap financial penalties that will be given as compensation to the complainant.
9. Complaints against any officer of Lokpal will be investigated and completed within a month and, if found to be substantive, will result in the officer being dismissed within two months.
10. The existing anti-corruption agencies (CVC, departmental vigilance and the anti-corruption branch of the CBI) will be merged into Lokpal. Lokpal will have complete powers and machinery to independently investigate and prosecute any officer, judge or politician.
11. Whistleblowers who alert the agency to potential corruption cases will also be provided with protection by it.
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