LokPal Referendum. Of the few, by the few. Sometimes a sense of unbridled virtue can also subvert democracy. The agitation by civil society activists over the Jan Lokpal Bill is a reminder of this uncomfortable truth. There is a great deal of justified consternation over corruption. The obduracy of the political leadership is testing the patience of citizens. But the movement behind the Jan Lokpal Bill is crossing the lines of reasonableness. It is premised on an institutional imagination that is at best naïve; at worst subversive of representative democracy. The morality of fasting unto death for a political cause in a constitutional democracy has always been a tricky issue. Corruption is a challenge. ... contd.
Please read our terms of use before posting comments TERMS OF USE: The views, opinions and comments posted are your, and are not endorsed by this website. The Acorn » FAQ: Why Anna Hazare is wrong and Lok Pal a bad idea. Don’t fall for the miracle cure that is being offered. Corruption must be fought differently and it’s not easy. 1. Is Lok Pal is necessary to fight corruption? No, not only is it unnecessary, it will make the problem worse. Corruption in India arises because of too much government, too many rules, too much complexity and too much ambiguity. Adding one more, huge, powerful layer to an already complex system will make the system even more complicated. Complexity creates the incentives for corruption–both on the part of the bribe giver and the bribe taker. See my article on why Jan Lok Pal is no solution and Amba Salelkar’s article in Pragati. 1A. 2. The alternative is to proceed with second-generation reforms, or Reforms 2.0.
In fact, data show that perceptions of corruption are lower in some sectors of the economy, usually those that have been liberalised. 3. This is a specious argument. 4. 5. Whatever may be the claims made by the people promoting Lok Pal, there is no miracle solution. 6. To the janata that thinks Anna hazare is wrong and the Jan Lok Pal is a bad idea, Please read my response « The Kaipullai's Vetti Thoughts : The outer playground of my inner devil. When Anna Hazare walked towards the Ramlila Maidan, he knew he had knowingly/unknowingly sparked off one of India’s biggest movements against anything. This fight however, is against the gravest of ills afflicting the country today, Corruption.
Like a pandemic virus, corruption has infected every facet of Indian life, from the water we drink, the roads that we travel on and even to the ubiquitous mobile phone. It was but a matter of time before the tolerance limit of the common man was breached and the revolution to begin. However, every revolution has its detractors and naysayers and this one is no different. So in an attempt to discredit this renaissance, here are some of the gems gifted to us by the Government and some of my fellow countrymen/women. According to some of them the Jan Lok Pal, as Anna Hazare proposes, will become a The other awesome theory by the party in power was The second theory is so preposterous that even the thought of discussing it is blasphemous. 1. 2. 3. Kicked upstairs. Amidst all the scandals, leaks and allegations of corruption, the 2010 India Corruption Survey by Centre for Media Studies (CMS), an independent research agency that I head, offers a ray of hope.
In recent years, there appears to be a decline in the extent of corruption involving citizens in their availing of basic public services. The decline is skewed: it is significant in the case of certain public services like telephones, passports, electricity and rail reservations, but only marginal or negligible in the case of other services. The 2006 report of field surveys that CMS has been conducting since 2000, gave the first indication of this shift and subsequent surveys confirmed the trend. There is an increasing feeling among the respondents that corruption among public services have declined (Figure 1).
This is a significant finding at a time where more instances of corruption involving government and big business are commonly visible. Perception vs experience We can and we should. Stuck with the Mascot. It happened, providentially, between the World Cup and the IPL. Anna Hazare, whose infatuation with Narendra Modi and Raj Thackeray was not known to many (the character of a man is so hard to google, especially when you have to transmit a whole revolution live), said he was ready to sacrifice his life to end corruption in the country. In response to his fast-unto-death, the beautiful people held candles and walked great distances. Kabir Bedi, or his wax statue, said in his baritone, “If this is not revolution, I don’t know what is.” Thousands of angry people employed in the private sector, some of whom even took comp offs, came out on the streets to support Hazare.
Hundreds of thousands gave missed calls to a number to say that they were with Anna. The Government surrendered to fight another day. The people had won a rare victory. It was exactly the kind of revolution the Indian middle-class loves. But then Anna started talking. There can be many arguments for and against the Lokpal. Jan Lok Pal: unconstitutional, unnecessary. The battle against corruption must be fought by strengthening existing instruments The debate on how to eradicate corruption, kick-started by Anna Hazare’s indefinite fast, has now moved into its second phase. This involves the drafting of a bill that will provide a foolproof mechanism to bring the corrupt to book. Here is an examination of the structural flaws inherent in the Jan Lok Pal Bill The bill, also known as The Anti Corruption, Grievance Redressal and Whistleblower Protection Act, 2010 (which will be referred to as the Jan Lok Pal Bill) is about the most overwhelming piece of legislation since Independence.
Why the big fuss, you may ask. Don’t we have any laws against corruption in India? The Prevention of Corruption Act was first enacted in 1947. A “new and improved” Prevention of Corruption Act (PoCA) was enacted in 1987, complete with special courts and tougher punishments, and with it, the relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code stood repealed. Photo: V Singh Moving on. The Pioneer :: Home : >> Jan Lok Pal is no solution.