Homemaker, BTech student apply for Lokpal panel

When it comes to fighting corruption at the highest level, it seems people do not want to leave the job just to the high and mighty.

A homemaker, workshop assistant, debt recovery agent, BTech student and an insurance agent were among the 425 applicants who felt they are fit for a seat in the top anti-corruption body, the Lokpal.

They would be fighting against the likes of former Cabinet Secretary Ajith Seth, former Delhi Police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar and former Chief Information Commissioner Satyanand Misra for a space in the Lokpal, among others. The names were made public by Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) following an order from the Central
Information Commission (CIC) on a plea by RTI activist Subhash Chandra Agrawal.

As per the Lokpal Act, the ombudsman can have eight members other than the chairperson. Among the eight members, half of them should be judicial members.

Effectively, for four posts of non-judicial members, 380 people have applied. Though other details are not available, the list showed that homemaker Sumangali B George, workshop assistant K Jayapal and insurance agent Mata Prasad Mishra also found themselves fit for the job.

Similar applicants include BTech student Himanshu Prasad, farmer Kusumawati Bhimrao Jadhao and law student Keshav Nand Bharti.

According to the Lokpal Act, a non-judicial member should be a person of “impeccable integrity and outstanding ability having special knowledge and expertise of not less than 25 years in the matters relating to anti-corruption policy, public administration, vigilance and finance, including insurance and banking, law and management.”

The applications came following an advertisement put out by the government in January 2014. The applications will be considered only after a new search committee is constituted.

Sixteen people–three former Supreme Court judges, a former High Court Chief Justice, a UGC member and an Information Commissioner–applied for the post of Lokpal chairperson.

While three former Supreme Court judges–Justices Gyan SudhaMisra, B S Chauhan and C K Prasad–were nominated by the apex court, others directly applied with recommendation letters from eminent people.