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The Indian Government continues to blunder even though it grudgingly allowed 74 year old Gandhian Anna Hazare to fast at New Delhi's Ramlila Maidan after intense public pressure filled the nations streets with protesters in favor of the Jan Lokpal Bill. Now after a week of fast Anna's health is slowing visible signs of deterioration but the Government which still holds the majority in the parliament is still unmoved and adamant.Instead it is using a multi-pronged media offensive through two large television channels a CNN IBN and NDTV and the media promoting alternate versions of bills that look mutated midget clones that would be pretty ineffective in operation.
Pro-Govt activists NAC member Aruna Roy has put up a version that wants to breakup the Jan Lokpal into a 3 outfit bill that is unviable because the last mile and the first mile of the corruption chain cannot be linked and tied up by a single investigation . Rural development minister Jairam Ramesh has given one version and the CNN IBN has promoted its own draft that it is publicizing. The Govt or its associated bodies are producing so many clones and fakes of the Lokpal bill, we are wondering when we will get the Manish Tiwari or Divijay Singh version? After all since the Govt hates to introduce Anna's Jan Lokpal
bill it can introduce a bill by those in the Congress Party who hate him and called him a corrupt impostor .
Coming back to the real battle turf , today morning I took the first metro at 6.00 in the morning to reach the Ramlila Maidan, the center stage of India's war against corruption . The sprawling grounds at the heart of the city where the 74 year old war veteran and Gandhian Anna Hazare is fasting to protest against India's ineffective corruption laws. Though it was pretty early in the morning on a Monday morning, it seemed that the enthusiasm for the movement had not receded.
Not only were the TV camera's buzzing at 7.30 a.m. in the morning to provide live 24 x7 coverage of the event,but the crowds which overnight was around few thousand strong had started swelling and was 10,000 plus before 8.00 a.m. and 20,000 by the time I left the venue at 10.00 a.m.
What surprised me was the number of women,, family units comprising of parents and children and college students who had started assembling so early in the day to express solidarity with Anna. What saddened me was to see Anna lying down on the dais, soon after his morning medical checkup, with Ketone levels down due to the 7 days of fasting. He appeared to be worried and thoughtful but still often smiling .
My purpose of going was to talk with team Anna on protecting the decision tree of the Government income and expenditure. Fortunately I was able to meet Anna team members Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodsia on the issue and gave them my opinion on the issue that the Lokpal Bill must be focused to protect 2 sources primarily . That of the Government expenditure like ‘public sector procurement etc that is equivalent to approx Rs 11,00,000 crores or Rs 11 Trillion ( approx 40% of the GDP is such Government expenses ) and the Government's income source which would include the revenues from Excise, Income Tax and Sales Tax , Spectrum and Mining Licensing fees, import licenses, etc.
The Lokpal Bill must not be focused on personalities whom it can prosecute but must be applicable to the process of administrative decision making and protect the DECISION TREE of the Government income and expenditure to ensure that the tax payer’s money is not under influence of corrupt practices and graft. For example if a Judge takes bribe to protect a murderer, he would be under the Lokpal act because he interfering and vitiating in the process of governance State vs Criminal . However if a Judge takes bribe in a Ambani vs Ambani case or any private dispute he should be investigated under the Judicial transparency laws and not the Lokpal Bill.
So drawing the ROUTE MAP of public money (expense and income ) and creating an overseer to investigate into oversight would perhaps be the ideal solution. This is because the next and logical step after the Lokpal should be risk managing the decision making process from corrupt influence before anybody can cause damage. That is not post policing but creating a systemic control mechanism for prevention of such oversight and crime.
The war against corruption is long drawn. The Government would try to wriggle out of the situation said Mr Kejriwal if any other option is today introduced. So he said the right method today is to pile on public pressure and hope that the Government comes up with any other viable alternative during discussions
The Indian Government continues to blunder even though it grudgingly allowed 74 year old Gandhian Anna Hazare to fast at New Delhi's Ramlila Maidan after intense public pressure filled the nations streets with protesters in favor of the Jan Lokpal Bill. Now after a week of fast Anna's health is slowing visible signs of deterioration but the Government which still holds the majority in the parliament is still unmoved and adamant.Instead it is using a multi-pronged media offensive through two large television channels a CNN IBN and NDTV and the media promoting alternate versions of bills that look mutated midget clones that would be pretty ineffective in operation.
Pro-Govt activists NAC member Aruna Roy has put up a version that wants to breakup the Jan Lokpal into a 3 outfit bill that is unviable because the last mile and the first mile of the corruption chain cannot be linked and tied up by a single investigation . Rural development minister Jairam Ramesh has given one version and the CNN IBN has promoted its own draft that it is publicizing. The Govt or its associated bodies are producing so many clones and fakes of the Lokpal bill, we are wondering when we will get the Manish Tiwari or Divijay Singh version? After all since the Govt hates to introduce Anna's Jan Lokpal
bill it can introduce a bill by those in the Congress Party who hate him and called him a corrupt impostor .
Coming back to the real battle turf , today morning I took the first metro at 6.00 in the morning to reach the Ramlila Maidan, the center stage of India's war against corruption . The sprawling grounds at the heart of the city where the 74 year old war veteran and Gandhian Anna Hazare is fasting to protest against India's ineffective corruption laws. Though it was pretty early in the morning on a Monday morning, it seemed that the enthusiasm for the movement had not receded.
Not only were the TV camera's buzzing at 7.30 a.m. in the morning to provide live 24 x7 coverage of the event,but the crowds which overnight was around few thousand strong had started swelling and was 10,000 plus before 8.00 a.m. and 20,000 by the time I left the venue at 10.00 a.m.
What surprised me was the number of women,, family units comprising of parents and children and college students who had started assembling so early in the day to express solidarity with Anna. What saddened me was to see Anna lying down on the dais, soon after his morning medical checkup, with Ketone levels down due to the 7 days of fasting. He appeared to be worried and thoughtful but still often smiling .
My purpose of going was to talk with team Anna on protecting the decision tree of the Government income and expenditure. Fortunately I was able to meet Anna team members Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodsia on the issue and gave them my opinion on the issue that the Lokpal Bill must be focused to protect 2 sources primarily . That of the Government expenditure like ‘public sector procurement etc that is equivalent to approx Rs 11,00,000 crores or Rs 11 Trillion ( approx 40% of the GDP is such Government expenses ) and the Government's income source which would include the revenues from Excise, Income Tax and Sales Tax , Spectrum and Mining Licensing fees, import licenses, etc.
The Lokpal Bill must not be focused on personalities whom it can prosecute but must be applicable to the process of administrative decision making and protect the DECISION TREE of the Government income and expenditure to ensure that the tax payer’s money is not under influence of corrupt practices and graft. For example if a Judge takes bribe to protect a murderer, he would be under the Lokpal act because he interfering and vitiating in the process of governance State vs Criminal . However if a Judge takes bribe in a Ambani vs Ambani case or any private dispute he should be investigated under the Judicial transparency laws and not the Lokpal Bill.
So drawing the ROUTE MAP of public money (expense and income ) and creating an overseer to investigate into oversight would perhaps be the ideal solution. This is because the next and logical step after the Lokpal should be risk managing the decision making process from corrupt influence before anybody can cause damage. That is not post policing but creating a systemic control mechanism for prevention of such oversight and crime.
The war against corruption is long drawn. The Government would try to wriggle out of the situation said Mr Kejriwal if any other option is today introduced. So he said the right method today is to pile on public pressure and hope that the Government comes up with any other viable alternative during discussions
If corruption is a virus, then anna hazare's proposed jan lok pal bill is an anti-virus
ReplyDeleteanna reminds us of rabindra nath tagore, "Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high.........."
I hope the indian middle class anger and excitement is not short-lived