Hazare not to meet ministers over Lokpal Bill

Antony’s sub-group is part of the larger Group of Ministers (GoM) formed to find ways to tackle corruption.

The GoM,headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee,had decided to set up the sub-group to take on board the suggestions of the civil society before finalising the Lokpal (anti-corruption body) Bill.

In a letter to Narayanasamy,Hazare said the “sub-committee of Ministers will submit its report to the Group of Ministers,which will finally decide what kind of Lokpal Bill should be enacted. We had objected to this process in our meeting with the Prime Minister also…”

Instead,the social activist suggested that a “joint committee” with half of members from the civil society should discuss clause-wise objections of the government to the ‘Jan Lokpal Bill’ submitted by him to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh recently.

He said his colleagues who are supporting his campaign would meet the sub-group tomorrow to discuss these issues.

The Prime Minister had met Hazare recently to discuss their suggestions on anti-corruption legislation.

One of the criticisms is that the Lokpal will not have any power to either initiate action suo motu in any case or even receive complaints of corruption from general public.

The public will make complaints to Lok Sabha Speaker or to Rajya Sabha Chairperson. Only those complaints forwarded by them would be investigated by the Lokpal. This,some opine,will severely restrict the functioning of the Lokpal.

Some NGOs have also objected to the restriction of the three-member panel of Lokpal to retired judges and want eminent people from other walks of life to be a part of it.