JAN LOKPAL BILL
Saturday, July 09, 2011 Posted by Pratheesh
Author: Avinash Shandilya
The above statement defines the entire concept of the Lokpal Bill. The details about the Who and the What and the Where and the How have been all over the news. We have made a mockery of ourselves. Somebody who was a nobody has been raised to the status of being a Mahatma and the crusade titled Satyagrah. Excuse me, even Mahatma Gandhi would not have adhered to such banal commercialisation of something as pure as fasting for a noble cause.
The point which I would like to make through this article is the sheer irrelevance of holding the country’s sanctity to ransom and disrupting the functioning of the parliamentary body, when our parliament is the highest authority which frames laws. Civil society bonded together by their collective frustration against corruption (cases for which are popping up every week like the spread of mosquitoes during the rainy season at NCR) has taken the mantle upon themselves to have a complete overhaul of the system. It is true that a malaise exists in the system and we have all the right to be disappointed. It is our responsibility to take collective remedial actions as well. In the past when we did not do anything to counter corruption, we the general people blamed each other for the lack of pride in cleaning our own houses. Now that we are doing it, we are doing it under a shaky leadership and the connotations have been there for all of us to see.
The issue of the Lokpal Bill have been driven by political undertones. Lets try and reanalyse the issue from the perspective of a common man. Why do people like me and you need the Lokpal? Why do we need the Prime Minister to be under its ambit? In a few days time we will also fight for the Supreme court to be under the ambit of the Lokpal? People like me and you will not get a penny in our hands even if the black money, on the pretext of which the entire campaign has been staged, returns back. Since the issue has been raised, the government is trying its level best to bring all the tax havens onto the negotiation table. Agreements are being signed. India aspires to have a permanat seat in the UN. We aspire to be the new power bloc in the world. India has a cultural heritage of tolerance and that is what has helped us sustain as a collective unit. We are not hardwired to deal with issues in the some of our Middle east cousins or for that matter our arch rivals in the north treat us. We are a democracy and should be proud to be one.
Let good sense prevail. Let us try and give up the campaign to get what we want by putting a knife to the government. We have lots of people dying everyday in road accidents, out of diseases, out of sheer poverty and that is what needs to be brought to the fore. The rest will take care of themselves. We already have the Vigilance Commission We have the RTI. Both of these have been the brainchild of this very government and they are working so well. Let us raise our daily issues of concern which we see around ourselves to these organisations. Let them do what they have been appointed to do. They need our support. Let us not always try and undermine all the institutions which exist and claim to institute yet another committee with even more overbearing powers.
The government cannot and should not adhere to the demands for the Lokpal so soon. The issue needs further debate amongst the masses. Put up the draft for everybody to see. Let the enlightened community feel wanted. Let them be involved. Let the Parliament do its due. We do not need another committee, we need awareness amongst the masses to use the existing institutions well.
Posts
July 13, 2011 at 10:19 AM
Dear Sri editors,
Here i am expressing my solution to the problems like Eradication of corruption, Control of Fake currency, Hawala transactions, Inflation, Financial Crimes, Thefts, Goondaism, Bringing back our Indian depositors currency from Swiss Bank
(govt estimated currency declared in press RS 1,45,000 CRORES in Swiss Bank),and improvement in circulation of currency in the country.
SOLUTION;-( DEMONETIZE) CANCELLATION OF THE PRESENT SERIES OF CURRENCY AND LEGALISE THE BLOCK MONEY BY LEGISLATURE AND PARLIAMENT.
AND ALOW ALL INDIANS ,NRI S ,TO GET BACK BLOCK MONEY OR ANY TYPE LIKE HAWALA ACCOUNTS ETC, WITHOUT PUNISHING ANYBODY OR PUBLICISING OR PENALISING OR DISCLOSING NAMES OF SWISS BANK HOLDERS, OR ANY OTHERS , LEGALISE AS ONE TIME SETTLEMENT.
AND FURTHER RS 10,000/-PER MONTH PER INDIVIDUAL ONLY ALLOWED TO TRANSACT BY
CASH. AND BELOW RS1000/- VALUED ITEMS ONLY BY CASH ALL OTHER TRANSACTIONS THROUGH BANK CHEQUES OR CREDIT,DEBIT, CARDS ONLY.
Our country s population as per 2011 cences 1250 crores. if the government deposit on individual account of every citizen as social security deposit,the amount of RS 2 crores each, total deposit equals to RS2500 crores.
On this individual deposit gets RS 2 lacks per month as interest. that amount can be spent as individuals Free education, life health, insurance coverage,old age pension ,unemployment Aid,corps insurance, etc.
Please think and ask our MPs,econamissts and all intellectuals to raise the issue to debate.
MSPrasad 9494863353 mspjublee@gmail.com.
July 29, 2011 at 9:34 PM
With the revelations coming out of so many SCAMS for the past many months, it is all the more necessary to bring even the P.M , Judiciary and the actions of MPs on the floor of the house under the perview of LOK PAL bill without any exception. It is hoped that better counsel will prevail on our
leaders at the time of discussion and pass the bill as proposed by the Citizens forum. Then only ours can be called a Democratic Country.
August 1, 2011 at 4:21 PM
The fallacy of your arguments
1) "The point which I would like to make through this article is the sheer irrelevance of holding the country’s sanctity to ransom and disrupting the functioning of the parliamentary body, when our parliament is the highest authority which frames laws."
ARE THEY? They are holding their PEACEFUL protest... somewhere else... no Disruption, as i see it.
2) "Civil society bonded together by their collective frustration against corruption (cases for which are popping up every week like the spread of mosquitoes during the rainy season at NCR) has taken the mantle upon themselves to have a complete overhaul of the system."
They are asking for a powerful ombudsmen. No overhaul. Just one institution with enough power to see the justice done.
3) "In the past when we did not do anything to counter corruption, we the general people blamed each other for the lack of pride in cleaning our own houses. Now that we are doing it, we are doing it under a shaky leadership and the connotations have been there for all of us to see."
See! you are saying what i am saying.... precisely the need for a strong/powerful ombudsman! to fight the impotency of our political system, an ombudsman elected in a most transparent manner, a person of proven track record.
4)"People like me and you will not get a penny in our hands even if the black money, on the pretext of which the entire campaign has been staged, returns back. Since the issue has been raised, the government is trying its level best to bring all the tax havens onto the negotiation table"
ITS ABOUT COMMON MAN DAMMIT! Handling the rotten beurocracy is the basis of making an ombudsman! (its making me wonder if you understand what you are saying)
5)" We aspire to be the new power bloc in the world. India has a cultural heritage of tolerance and that is what has helped us sustain as a collective unit. We are not hardwired to deal with issues in the some of our Middle east cousins or for that matter our arch rivals in the north treat us."
??? Are you sure you are talking Jan-lokpal?
6) "We have lots of people dying everyday in road accidents, out of diseases, out of sheer poverty and that is what needs to be brought to the fore. The rest will take care of themselves."
True. But who fights corruption in saving these ppl. There are already thousands of schemes rotting with corruption...
7) We already have the Vigilance Commission We have the RTI. Both of these have been the brainchild of this very government and they are working so well.
True. But the above bodies dont have power to bring the corrupt to book. Who will see through the the Justice is done till the last court hearing? (Hint: Ombudsman!)
8)"Put up the draft for everybody to see. Let the enlightened community feel wanted. Let them be involved. "
Are you complaining that in the current scenario, ANYTHING has been done differently? :-O
I doubt your understanding of the Janlokpal bill & wonder if you appreciate the gravity, depth & pervasiveness of corruption which you- yourself encounter everyday in every dealing with a servant of government!