Friday 23 December 2011

The Lokpal Bill 2011 debate -- Anna vs Government. Is the fight necessary?

The Lokpal Bill 2011 has finally been introduced. Even before it was introduced, there were numerous discussions on TV channels all over the country about the merits and demerits of the Bill. One English news channel even went to the extent of procuring the draft of the Lokpal bill even well before it was circulated in the Parliament, started a debate outside the Parliament, early in the morning, discussed it for 5 min and thereafter proceeded to reject it in 2 min. Reactions started pouring in from members of team Anna, all of them denouncing and rejecting the Bill as if some snake had been let loose in their backyard. Is this the way an important piece of legislation for which the country has been crying hoarse since more than a year now, should be handled? Is this the way members of team Anna should be behaving now that majority of their demands have already been met by the members of the Parliament? Here I want to make it clear that the Lokpal Bill actually was not started at the initiative of team Anna but was already in the process of being drafted by the Congress party, for which they have a separate drafting cell comprising of Ms Aruna Roy and other members, basically known as the National Advisory Council. When this process was almost complete, the corruption scam started breaking out in the country, and in the background of this, the Anna phenomena was born.

Now after due deliberation, consultations and a lot of all-party meetings, the Lokpal Bill 2011 has been introduced.Good bad or ugly, this Bill is here to stay and the whole country is wanting the Parliament to take up this Bill for discussion. Now is the time to rise up to the occasion and hear out the views of the members of Parliament representing various parties. Unless you allow the members of Parliament to present their views how can you come to the best conclusion. There might be some shortcomings in the Bill as presented, but unless you hear the views of other parties the best consensus cannot be evolved. Some parties are averse to the idea of the CBI being kept out of the Lokpal. Without defending this, I wish to state that making the CBI somewhat autonomous would serve the purpose better rather than bring it under the Lokpal. In a diverse country like India, where corruption stems at every level, in every nook and corner of the country there are bound to be floods of complaints against a whole lot of functionaries involved in the execution of the government policies. In such a scenario it would be foolish to overburden the Lokpal to such an extent that it crashes down under its own weight. In any case all this has to be looked at in a comprehensive manner. Apart from the Lokpal bill, the government has also introduced various other bills which take care of the situation and deals with corruption in its entirety. We can mention here the Whistle Blowers protection Bill, the Citizens Charter Bill and the Public Redressal  of Grievances Bill and the Judicial Accountability Bill. If all these bills are considered together, most of the problems regarding corruption facing the people today, would be taken care of. Whether it works out or not, only time will tell but then that is the case with every Bill which is passed by Parliament. If need be, amendments can always be carried out to specific sections of the Bills and it is not as if a bill which is passed will remain that way forever. These Bills are also open to judicial scrutiny, and they will be challenged before a competent court of law as and when the need arises. My only concern is that let the lawmaking body do its job. If a parallel set of agitation is sought to be carried out outside Parliament it would be a mockery of Parliament. The government has heeded to the voice of the people, sought to be represented by Anna and his team. They have labored hard to bring out these various pieces of legislation so that the problem of corruption can be sorted out. Give the parliament a chance, let them discuss the various bills placed before them, threadbare and then only we should be in a position to comment on the same, or agitate as the case may be.

Agitation just for the sake of agitating is never in the interest of the country and it will not serve the purpose for which the agitation is sought to be carried out. The people of this country should not be brought to a breaking point now and again, mayhem should not be created in the name of removing the government every now and then. A government once elected has to last its full term, unless for some compelling reasons it falls on its own or resigns. Everyone should understand that the government of the day is for the people and by the people. The people should have faith in the government and in turn the government should be allowed to do its job. If the credibility of the government and its actions are questioned at every step, no government would be able to survive, and anarchy and chaos would prevail. I'm sure we don't want the same to happen to our country. We have attained freedom after a lot of struggle, now we have to carry the country forward and see that it gains its rightful place among the prosperous countries of the world. I'm sure the government of the day is aware of that fact and will do its job well. In case it doesn't, we all know what to do,when the next general election is announced. Till that time, let the government do its job, keep a check on its actions, and bring it back on track in case it strays from the right path. Cheers.

1 comment:

  1. I'am really glad that a large number of people have gone through this post and have liked my blog. Grateful to everybody.Keep supporting me like this, because I write for all you lovely people.

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