|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
By Category |
 |
|
|
| |
|
| |
| |
India On Media |
|
|
|
| |
|
| |
|
|
| Politics
News |
|
| May include junior MPs, babus in Lo |
| May include junior MPs, babus in Lokpal, says govt
|
| INDIA
, 9-December-2011
8:41:40 AM |
| In an attempt to stave off another mass movement by Anna Hazare, and to prove its commitment to fighting corruption, the government has suggested that it is likely to meet two of the key demands that Anna has for the new anti-corruption Lokpal Bill. V Narayanswamy, who is the Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office, has said that the Prime Minister and 57 lakh junior bureaucrats may both be covered by the Lokpal Bill. That means the nine-member ombudsman agency will have the right to investigate them for corruption (though with many riders in the case of the PM).
So the major remaining point of dispute between the government and Team Anna is whether the CBI should report, as Team Anna wants, to the Lokpal. The government has indicated it's not likely to bend on this. "Rahul Gandhi is to blame for a weak draft of the Lokpal Bill, "Anna said in Pune this evening. Accusing the government of betrayal, the Gandhian said, "The anger of the people will boil over."
Anna, who is 74, has threatened to begin a new hunger strike on December 27 if the Lokpal Bill is not passed in this session of Parliament, or if it does not include the features his activists deem essential.
"Fast or feast - that doesn't concern us at all. We respect them (Team Anna) for their feelings, for their cause, for the efforts that they have put in. But the decision is upto Parliament now," said Law Minister Salman Khurshid.
The Lokpal Bill will be reviewed by the Cabinet and introduced in Parliament next week. The government is inclined to offer far more than what's recommended by the parliamentary committee that has been studying the bill. The committee says junior bureaucrats should not be answerable to the nine members of the Lokpal. On the matter of the PM, it asks Parliament to decide, and presents three options - include the Prime Minister with safeguards, include the Prime Minister after he or she exits office and exclude him completely.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
ADVERTISEMENTS
Free offer!!! Become an administrator for your zip home page, "Post" local news (local to your postcode)& pictures, "Post" advertisement banners from local companies. Make Extra money.
|
 |
 |
|
|
| |
|
