Anna prevails

Anna prevails

There can be no reason to keep out the Prime Minister, CBI or lower bureaucracy from the Lokpal's ambit.

From the looks of it, the Government and the Opposition seem inclined to meet most of the contentious demands relating to the Lokpal Bill that the movement led by Anna Hazare has been raising. The Government, already beleaguered by deepening economy-related troubles, is left with little choice. Having been cornered badly, the only option is to concede defeat gracefully. The Opposition, on its part, has sensed the mood on the ground. From the BJP to the BSP and the CPM, there is now virtual unanimity on bringing the Prime Minister, the lower bureaucracy and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) under the Lokpal's purview. The finer details of their inclusion may not be clear yet, but the fact that the Congress-led Government has eventually had to bend to public opinion goes without saying. Till recently, the Congress appeared to have forgotten the lessons from the past, especially the ease with which V.P. Singh had, in the mid-1980s, united the Opposition on the issue of corruption. The popular perception that it does not want a law providing for an effective anti-graft ombudsman is something the ruling party would definitely want to change. And it may not be too late for a Government that has, after all, taken credit for enacting a complementary Right to Information legislation enabling greater interface between ordinary citizens and public authorities.

That raises the question as to why the Government has been so reluctant in agreeing to the inclusion of the Prime Minister, the lower bureaucracy or the CBI under the Lokpal's jurisdiction. If the Lokpal is intended to tackle corruption, there is no justifiable reason to keep them out. The only issues remaining for resolution, then, are the exceptions. These can be determined fairly easily, at least for the Prime Minister in matters of national security and other strategic sectors. As far as CBI goes, the issue is really about guaranteeing its autonomy and protecting the investigating agency from being used selectively to target those not aligned to the ruling regime's interests. Whether this is best done by bringing its prosecution wing under the Lokpal is, again, a matter of detail.

Where the so-called Class C and D employees are concerned, since they are the face of the government and also the immediate oppressors of the common man, there is no question of exception at all. Although corruption from high-level deals is important, it is the persistent levies made by clerks and other employees, engaged in delivering services that ought to be a matter of right, which truly bothers the aam aadmi and has drawn him to Anna Hazare's campaign. The argument that monitoring millions of employees is impossible misses the point that the idea here is to give people an instrument and authority to which they can take their complaints to. The very fear of getting punished, if caught, can itself be a powerful deterrent. (source: Hindubusinessline)