So the stage is finally set. The key players are ready on both sides. The civil society under the leadership of Anna Hazare is all set to take on the most corrupt government of our country till date (as said by Anna himself). The whole nation is supporting Anna and with the freedom struggle like movement on the cards , the youth of the country is especially excited . I also support Anna whole- heartedly. His intent of weeding out corruption from the country is commendable indeed. But personally I feel that a more pragmatic stand should have been taken on the issue. Every action you do needs a correct timing. Even a correct move at the wrong time can prove detrimental. Therefore, I think that waging such a mass movement currently lacks pragmatism. Given the current situation in the country, the bane of corruption is not the only problem which India is facing. Many other issues seek redressal, some of them being the land acquisition act amendment, food security bill, proper implementation of Aadhar scheme and gaining consensus on the much awaited GST. With the monsoon session of the parliament in motion, these issues should be at the forefront. I agree that corruption has long been plaguing our country, but the civil society members should wait for the monsoon session of the Parliament to end so that atleast some ground is covered on these issues which are outlined above.
The Lokpal Bill was introduced in the Parliament for the first time by Shanti Bhushan in 1968, who is currently a member of the civil society committee. Since then, Lokpal Bill has been introduced many times in the Parliament, but has not been passed till date. The government has finally agreed to present the Lokpal bill in this session. It is true that the bill is weak in effect, but still expecting to have the best Lokpal bill on first go seems quite utopian to me. Also, the proposal of including the judiciary under the Lokpal’s ambit is a bad idea as we already are in the process of enacting a judicial accountability bill for that. Creating an all powerful Lokpal without sufficient crosschecks can turn it into a Frankenstein’s monster. We know that ‘Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely’; and therefore the possibility of corruption in the Lokpal is not undeniable, as it is possible that the civil society representatives chosen in future may not be as morally upright as Anna Hazare, Arvind Kejriwal and Kiran Bedi.
With the Downgrading of the USA by S&P and current economic slowdown in Europe, the fright of an impending recession is at an all time high. Markets are low on confidence and inflation is sky rocketing as well. Therefore, in times like these, the focus of the country should be on controlling this economic turmoil . Stress should be laid on attracting investment in India, as currently the investors are disillusioned with the US. India should not let go of this opportunity. The time is ripe for buttressing our economy. And talking about corruption-for the time being, the CAG is doing an exceptional job, as can be seen from its reports on 2G and CWG scam.
Therefore, what I feel is that the government and civil society should engage in a more constructive dialogue than the previous one, with both behaving less stubbornly. Moreover, the whole political class should also keep in mind not to let the whole monsoon session go to waste by engaging in unnecessary politically motivated tussle and leg- pulling. Rather they should aim at tackling the important issues and addressing them as swiftly as possible. The civil society should allow the Lokpal Bill to be tabled in the parliament and if it does not function satisfactorily, it should try to mobilize the political class against it. After all, there’s no need to render the parliamentary system of government obsolete.
