India regularly ranks among the most corrupt nations in the world. Everyday, the headlines scream about senior government officials or legislators being caught with their fingers in yet another corrupt pie.
The IPL row, Commonwealth Games, 2G spectrum scandal, land allotment allegations and the Adarsh housing society scam -- the skeletons of corruption keep tumbling out.
Is there a way to end this vicious circle of corruption that has spread its diseased roots into our nation's hallowed institutions?
Anna Hazare and other civil society activists have proposed a draft Lok Pal Bill to tackle the menace of corruption. The prime minister formed a sub-committee of the Group of Ministers to discuss the issue with these activists.
However, these two groups were unable to reach an agreement on the provisions of the Lok Pal Bill. According to the government, the activists demanded that the government should accept the Bill drafted by them without any changes.The Lok Pal Bill has been introduced eight times in the Lok Sabha (1968, 1971, 1977, 1985, 1989, 1996, 1998 and 2001). However, each time the Lok Sabha was dissolved before the Bill could be passed, except in 1985 when it was withdrawn
The office of the Lok Pal is the Indian version of the office of an Ombudsman, who is appointed to inquire into complaints made by citizens against public officials.
The Lok Pal is a forum where the citizen can send a complaint against a public official, which would then be inquired into and the citizen would be provided some redressal.
There are diverging views on issues such as the inclusion of the office of the Prime Minister, ministers and Members of Parliament, inclusion of judges, and powers of the Lok Pal.
Some experts contend that all public officials should be accountable while others feel that the autonomy and privilege of Parliament require the Prime Minister, ministers, and Members of Parliament to be accountable only to Parliament.But Hazare and whole of the nation want the drafting people should have fifty percent common men and his ideas Thus he is fasting.
