Acid test for UPA

The fast unto death being undertaken by social activist Anna Hazare in New Delhi has drawn attention to the inadequacy of the existing institutions in dealing with corruption and the refusal of the ruling class to empower them. The fact that Hazare’s campaign has caught the imagination of the people is a sign of popular indignation over corruption. It is timely that he has raised the need for an effective Lokpal when the nation has been rocked by a series of scandals which showed politicians and officials in an unholy alliance to loot the exchequer. Sensing the public mood the government had offered the setting up of a Lokpal but its idea of the office is so weak and compromised that it will hardly make any difference to the present system.

The idea of an independent ombudsman against corruption is almost five decades old but successive governments and parliaments have only scuttled it, while paying lip service to it. The Lokpal bill has failed as many as eight times in the Lok Sabha. At the state level only a few have the office of the Lokayukta and they do not have any real powers. The latest bill promised by the government is no better. It includes the prime minister in its purview but leaves out his decisions in some areas out of it. The Lokpal will not have any suo moto power to take up complaints but can only act on the basis of the Speaker’s recommendations. Its findings have again to go to the Speaker and can be rejected. With such limited powers the Lokpal will be a toothless office. Hazare and the section of the civil society that backs him want public consultations on the provisions of the Lokpal bill. A  separate Jan Lokpal bill has been drafted by Karnataka Lokayukta Santosh Hegde and others which envisages an independent office with a larger jurisdiction and greater powers. The demand for formation of a joint committee with participation from the government and the public to examine the provisions of the proposed bill is not wrong. Why should the government object to it when the aim is to strengthen the bill and make it effective?

The National Advisory Council has shown interest in the bill and has also sought wider consultations on it. It is because the system has failed to address the problem of corruption that the people are demanding action. The government should heed their views.