Jan Lokpal bill Gone astray???

Anna Hazare fasted for 12 long days for a foolish climax. So many protests all over the country went in vain by ineligible leader. He started fighting for PM under Lokpal but ended with Government officials in villages who loot in hundreds let alone politicians looting in crores. Government could have allowed parliament to discuss the first day, but they knew people are fools and the leader leading the agitation didn’t know the other side of coin. Democracy have been killed again by politicians. India is not only the biggest democracy and also the biggest failure. Hats off to politicians to pull off another victory making foolish people believe they won. So many lakhs of people didn’t fight for this result. Long live the Indian fools!! 

It was not just a fast that was broken on Sunday morning at Delhi's Ramlila Ground. Arguably, so was the intent to have Parliament pass Team Anna's Jan Lokpal Bill.

The resolution by Anna included specific references to the three points that Camp Anna had finally demanded: the inclusion of the lower bureaucracy in the ambit of the Lokpal; the appointment of Lokayuktas – similar to the Lokpal at the Centre – at the state level; and the incorporation of a citizens' charter for all government offices.

As Team Anna celebrates this as the victory of the people over politicians (and, specifically elected representatives), it's worth taking stock of what this agitation lost.

Team Anna had already given up on inclusion of the Prime Minister's office and that of the higher judiciary under the Lokpal. Both were crucial elements of the divergences between the government's Lokpal Bill and the self-styled Jan Lokpal Bill. But as it was negotiated down from Anna Hazare's original position – pass the entire Jan Lokpal Bill by August 30 – Team Anna had to give up on these clauses.

But they're not the only ones. There were several other clauses  many of which were criticised by other people in Civil Society  that now look to have been buried once and for all. Among these are:

·        The inclusion of the anti-corruption wing of the CBI under the Lokpal.

·        Having its own investigating wing with full powers to probe and arrest anyone.

·        The power to investigate not just corruption but also whatever is perceived as incompetence.

·        Punishment that is different in scale and scope from the laws set out in the Indian Penal Code.

·        The complete authority of the Lokpal in appointing people of his choice.

Now that the final weapon of the fast has been brandished, Team Anna has nothing left to fight with. Can they now go back to the government and demand more? The debate about concentration of powers in the hands of one institution looks settled once and for all.

Team Anna now has only three demands out of all its original demands figuring in a resolution. How these demands fare once the legislative test begins needs to be seen too.

Team Anna has used up its biggest weapon when the war is not even at a halfway stage. It is difficult to see how the Jan Lokpal Bill can ever see light of day. Do we hear a quiet chuckle from Parliament House?

This is the 9^th Lokpal Bill that is being referred to Standing committee by the parliament. The committee reviews and make amendments to the bill in an yr or 2. By the time report is being discussed, the term of government is over and Loksabha gets dissolved. The end of all the bills that was referred to Standing Committee !! Those people who fought for the bill from 12 days just lost the fight.

All remains now is will power of individuals to stop paying bribes and eradicate corruption. Corruption cannot be removed unless each and every Indian takes this resolve to fight Corruption and stop paying bribes to get benefits . What we think has to be executed in reality . There is a need to change and stop making mockery of the system. Lets stop blaming government and officials for looting us and realize we were the ones who were culprits. We can eradicate corruption on our own and we will do it.

"Corruption is worse than prostitution. The latter might endanger the morals of an individual, the former invariably endangers the morals of the entire country".

Jai Hind

Thanks,

Manoj.M.Koushik

7204771844

Independence? Not for the AAM AADMI !!

"Corruption is worse than prostitution. The latter might endanger the morals of an individual, the former invariably endangers the morals of the entire country".

As India stands at the threshold of yet another Independence Day, it might be worthwhile to spare a thought to the hapless aam aadmi who have had to take a beating from various quarters. While the 2G, CWG and many other G's that is yet to be exposed, take the chunk of media space, the issues of the aam aadmi gets invariably sidelined to a old fashioned corner.

For the person on the street who have had to pay a bribe to get his child's birth certificate, had to go hungry for a week to accumulate money to bribe a government official to avail a government discount scheme that he rightfully deserves and even finding a space in the general ward of the dilapidated govt hospital, everyday life for him is a pain. Not voicing his irk or complaints, the aam aadmi suffers in silence at the unfairness meted out to him at every single minute of his existence.

It might not be exaggerating to say that if anyone suffers in silence when India turns a new chapter this Independence Day it is the aam aadmi. Though the term the 'aam aadmi' has found mention in political speeches and in the lambasts the Opposition turns on against the government, there is no stoic voice backing the sentiments and rights of the Real India comprising predominantly of the common man like you and me.

Here are some instances that shocked the senses of the aam aadmi recently -

13 pregnant women died in Feb 2011 in Rajasthan when they were infected due to contaminated IV fluids resulting in their deaths along with the yet-to-be-born foetus. The case hasn't seen its logical end with the guilty only charged and the fate of the case hanging in the balance.

Villager beaten up during Noida protests

When thousands in the country going to bed hungry every single night in the country, it was recently reported that the food grains were rotting in the Food Corporation of India (FCI) godowns, making a mockery of the Public Distribution Sytem.

The Adarsh Housing scam was the most insulting of all that brought shame of the highest order for the Indian. In a balatant act of utmost contempt and loathe, the residential complex meant for widows and other dependant kin of the Kargil war including widows and parents were illegally usurped by army men and bureaucrats to their own personal benefit.

There is also the controversial land acquisition that has rocked the helpless farmers for whom their fields are more precious than anything else. In the name of developmemtal activities, the fertile land in Gurgaon-Noida extension was sold off to private investors to construct express ways. Acting as a double blow, not only was precious fertile land misused, the farmers were paid a pittance for their land with the state administration acting as a facilitator for the land being handed over to the farmer to the corporate houses.

These are only a handful of cases that has affected the aam aadmi but the thousand other cases that has gone unreported are very much in existence that has not managed to grab the media spotlight. But what the politicians fail to realise is that it is these very people who are responsible in electing the politicians who engage in corruption and loot the rights of the voiceless and helpless public.

For a country that has come to think that corruption is a way of life and it is absolutely fine to bribe the traffic policemen for jumping the red signal or the bribe that an illiterate villager pays to the hospital compounder to the release the body of his kin from the mortuary, there has to be a major shift in the Indian attitude to bring about changes in the grassroots level.

For an article that has written with yet another frustrated aam aadmi that hopes to change the way we think and say that corruption is unacceptable, hope is all we have at the end of the day.  "Corruption is worse than prostitution. The latter might endanger the morals of an individual, the former invariably endangers the morals of the entire country".

Jai Hind

Thanks,

Manoj.M.Koushik

7204771844