Government eats its words,Hazare to break fast today

The other members of the 10-member committee: Union Law Minister Veerappa Moily (convener),Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal,Home Minister P Chidambaram and Water Resources and Minority Affairs Minister Salman Khursheed from the government; Hazare,retired Supreme Court Judge and Karnataka Lokayukta Santosh N Hegde,Supreme Court advocate Prashant Bhushan and RTI activist Arvind Kejriwal as civil society representatives.

In the agreement,the government also committed itself to introducing the new Lokpal Bill in the monsoon session of Parliament.

“The government has accepted all our demands and I will end my fast at 10 am on Saturday. This is a victory for the entire nation,” Hazare said.

HRD Minister Kapil Sibal,who led the government’s team of negotiators,welcomed Hazare’s announcement saying: “This suggests the strength of democracy in our country that we are able to sit across the table and resolve issues which seem intractable.”

Sources said the decision to accept the demands was taken after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh personally intervened,first holding discussions with Congress president Sonia Gandhi,Mukherjee and Sibal. He had another round of talks with his colleagues after which Sibal and Moily met Swami Agnivesh,Kiran Bedi and Kejriwal to work out the modalities of the agreement.

Sibal,Moily and Khursheed were at the Prime Minister’s residence until late evening to work out the details of the agreement and the fine print of the government order.

Earlier in the day,Hazare,who is on fast-unto-death since April 5,asked the public to start a ‘jail bharo’ agitation from April 13.

Sources said the government is clear that whatever the committee’s recommendations,these will have to go through the due process of Cabinet clearance and Parliamentary approval before being accepted. During Parliamentary screening,the government feels,these individuals and groups can again make their case before the relevant standing committee.

During the deliberations on Friday,it was noted that even in the case of the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities,protection of rights and full participation) Act,the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment had formed a committee last year of NGOs and disabled persons as members,along with bureaucrats.

In its talks on Friday with Hazare’s emissaries,the government sought to convey the steps it has taken against corruption: the Judicial Standards and Accountability Bill,an anti-bribery Bill,ratification of the UN Convention Against Corruption; a review of the Prevention of Corruption Act to include the private sector and a GoM on corruption which has come out with its first report on measures to act against corruption involving politicians,judges and government officials.

Sibal told reporters that the drafting committee has to complete its work by June 30 so that Cabinet approval is taken before the monsoon session likely to start in the first week of July.

The Lokpal Bill Deal

* 10-member panel: Pranab Mukherjee as chairman,Shanti Bhushan as co-chair

* Govt members: P Chidambaram,Veerappa Moily,Salman Khursheed,Kapil Sibal

* Civil society: Anna Hazare,Prashant Bhushan,Santosh Hegde,Arvind Kejriwal

* Bill in monsoon session

* Committee notified via Govt order