We have won only half the battle: Anna Hazare

Anna Hazare declared on Saturday that the nation's people had won a great victory as he announced he would end his fast at 10am on Sunday.

Hazare thanked people for their support on the Lokpal agitation but cautioned that only half the battle had been won.

"We have won only half the battle," said Hazare standing before wildly cheering crowds and flanked by his key aides and Union minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, former Maharashtra chief minister who has been an interlocutor.

"I congratulate every MP on what has happened today." Anna Hazare said.

Earlier, Union minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, along with Congress MP Sandeep Dikshit, reached the Ramlila Maidan and handed over a copy of the Lokpal resolution and a letter of the Prime Minister to Anna Hazare.

"Parliament has spoken. It is the will of the people," a smiling Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said while coming out of the House after the debate that ended at 8pm.

Both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha went out of their way to discuss in a special sitting on Saturday an issue thrown up by the campaign of the 74-year-old activist who has been demanding enactment of Jan Lokpal for which he started a fast from August 16.

There was confusion at the end of the day-long debate in both the Houses as Parliament was expected to vote a resolution.

Originally conceived as a resolution, Parliament converted its agreement on three issues raised by Hazare -- citizen''s charter, lower bureaucracy under Lokpal through an appropriate mechanism and establishment of Lokayukta in the states -- and to remit them to the Parliamentary Standing Committee for giving its recommendations.

In his communication to Hazare, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh conveyed to him that Parliament has passed a resolution on the three issues raised by him and appealed to him to call off his fast.

TIMES CAMPAIGN: ACT AGAINST CORRUPTION

Join campaign for a strong Lokpal law to make India corruption-free

The people of India are sick of corruption. Anna Hazare's Jantar Mantar fast, which got overwhleming public support, has not gone in vain. The latest government version of the proposed Lokpal Bill is certainly an improvement over the anemic bill drafted by the law ministry in December 2010, but the governemt is still not ready to go the whole hog. It wants to retain certain controls. This, unfortunately, may provide escape routes to the corrupt.

It's not too late to tell the government that we, the people of India, do not want any compromises on the anti-corruption law. Join the campaign by clicking the "JOIN CAMPAIGN" button below. You can also join the campaign by giving a missed call to the toll-free number 08030050051 / 08030088502 or by sending lok as an SMS to 58888.

You can also verbally record your support for the campaign on Hibuddy by dialing 58888199.(Only on Airtel, Reliance, Tata)

Lokpal Bill: Anna Hazare demands debate in Parliament from Friday

NEW DELHI: Reacting to Parliament's appeal to end his fast, Anna Hazare on Thursday demanded that Parliament discuss from Friday three key issues on Jan Lokpal and create an agreement, failing which he will not end his fast.

"I have sent a message to the Prime Minister. If you want to pass Jan Lokpal bill then start the discussion tomorrow morning. I have three demands. If there is support (for them), then I can consider ending the fast," he told his supporters at the Ramlila Grounds here.

Hazare has made three demands to the Prime Minister--- citizen's charter, lokayuktas in all states with Lokpal powers and inclusion of lowest to highest bureaucracy.

He was reacting to the appeal from Parliament that he end his fast after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh made an offer to the civil society that the Jan Lokpal bill will be discussed by Parliament.

Hazare said he has sent this message through Union minister Vilasrao Deshmukh when he came to meet him at the fast site and appealed to him to end his hunger strike.

"You (PM) say, you are worried. Now he is saying that we are worried but for ten days you were not worried. It went on like this," he said, adding the government had betrayed him twice in the past and now he would not like to be betrayed for the third time.

While taking note of the appreciation by the Prime Minister, Speaker and leader of the opposition, Hazare wondered why the opposition is keeping mum on the Jan Lokpal Bill.

"Why are you keeping quiet? You should say that we will support this bill and ask the government to bring it. But now everyone has joined hands because they fear that power will slip out of their hands," the 74-year-old Gandhian told the opposition.

Hazare told the opposition to "put pressure" on the government on the issue.

He also noted that MPs and the Speaker appreciated the protest and even the Prime Minister saluted him. "It is not because of me, it is all because of you people," he said.

He said whether he was alive or not the torch of revolution should continue. "It is becoming difficult for poor to live. We have to create the change. Lot of people are living only to eat and some are eating to live," Hazare said.

"People are supreme. All officers should be brought under the Lokpal. All officers from the village to city should be under the Lokpal," he said.

If Lokpal is passed corruption at the Centre will be curbed but what about the corruption at state-level, he asked.

"If Lokayuktas are not established along with Lokpal, the corruption at state-level cannot be curbed. How can we do that? All states should have Lokayukta and they should be independent," he said.

Jan Lokpal Bill: Singapore Has One So Why Shouldn’t We!

There are few fights in the world where the two opposing factions can be this easily labeled as white or black, right or wrong, good or evil.  The fight for the Jan Lokpal Bill is one such rare example. Firstly, its objective is noble. It seeks to curb corruption in the Indian society. Secondly, the movement is unquestionable. It is not politically motivated. It is not going to bring the BJP or any other dubious party to power. It is a revolution led by an honest man and supported by the youth. Thirdly, the proposed Jan Lokpal Bill is based on proven measures for tackling corruption. As I will demonstrate in this post, the proposed Jan Lokpal Bill is strikingly similar to the laws of Singapore (the least corrupt nation of the world according to Transparency International)^[1]. This information alone should suffice in putting an end to any dubious argument against the provisions of the bill.
The Singapore Experience
For a nation genuinely seeking to reduce corruption, there can be few better examples to follow that that of Singapore. In 2010, Singapore, along with Denmark and New Zealand, was ranked by Transparency International as the least corrupt nation in the world^[1]. Singapore achieved this position with several synergistic measures (Read: “ Eradicating Corruption-The Singapore Experience^[2]“, by Mr. Muhammed Ali, Acting Assistant Director in 2000 of the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau – CPIB). One among these measures was the establishment of the CPIB for investigating corruption related complaints.
It is interesting to note here that the powers granted to the Lokpal under the proposed bill are very similar to those granted to the CPIB under the Singapore law. In the table below, I have compared the proposed version of the Jan Lokpal Bill with the provisions of Singapore’s Anti Corruption Law. I have taken pains to ensure that the sources of my information are absolutely genuine. I have hyperlinked all my sources so that the reader can verify the authenticity of the information.
A Comparision of the proposed Jan Lokpal Bill & Singapore’s Anti-Corruption Law

Proposed Jan Lokpal Bill	Singapore’s Anti Corruption Law
The Lokpal will be completely independent of the government. No minister or bureaucrat will be able to influence their investigations [3]	CPIB’s independence of action was more or less guaranteed constitutionally[4]. It reports directly to the PM’s office.
The loss that a corrupt person causes to the government will be recovered at the time of conviction [3]	Besides fine and imprisonment, the person convicted of corruption offence will be ordered by the court to return the amount of bribe, which he had accepted in the form of a penalty.[2]
The Lokpal can receive complaints from the public [3]	Here is an online form that Singapore citizens can use to file a complaint [5]
Deterrence has been provided against frivolous complaints in the form of financial penalties against the complainant [6]	The CPIB has punished those who have tried to take undue advantage of this law. [7]
Lokpal will have complete powers and machinery to independently investigate and prosecute any officer, judge or politician [3]	The CPIB has complete police powers. It has the power to arrest, investigate and search. Search can also be performed without warrant, if necessary. [8]
It will be the duty of the Lokpal to provide protection to those who are being victimized for raising their voice against corruption [3]	The law guarantees protection of identity to the person reporting the offense [9]
Enhanced punishment – The punishment would be minimum 5 years and maximum of life imprisonment. [10]	The Singapore courts have in the past sentenced corrupt officers investigated by the CPIB to 14 years of imprisonment. [11]
Its members will be selected by judges, citizens and constitutional authorities and not by politicians, through a completely transparent and participatory process [3]	Here the Singapore law differs in application but not on intent. The appointments to the CPIB [12] are made by the President of Singapore who is directly elected [13] by the people, thus reducing the ability of politicians and bureaucrats to influence the selection process.
Investigations in any case will have to be completed in one year. Trial should be completed in next one year so that the corrupt politician, officer or judge is sent to jail within two years [3]	Here the Jan Lokpal Bill deviates slightly. However, given that the CPIB manages to clear 98% of its cases within 90 days, this does not appear to a highly unreasonable clause. [14]

So Why Is The Government Fighting The Bill?
This analysis brings us to the main point. If the Jan Lokpal Bill appears to be a no-brainer, why is the government fighting it? The government’s proposed version aims to make the Lokpal a toothless body which can work only in an advisory capacity (no police powers) and which can investigate only those complaints forwarded to it by the speaker of the Lok Sabha or the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha (no complaints can be received from the public).^[15]
The answer to this question is simple. Power. An independent, powerful Lokpal will deprive Indian politicians of their primary source of livelihood – the misuse of power for personal gain. The specter of a strong body with prosecution powers haunts them because they fear accountability.
The Way Forward
Given the lack of strong political leadership, it is unlikely that the government is going to put in serious efforts to pass a bill that greatly diminishes its own power. The passage of this bill appears unlikely without a strong people’s movement.
So far, the movement appears to have made an impact. The government has agreed to the demands of 50% representation of civil society activists on the drafting committee for the Jan Lokpal Bill ^[16]. But, the real test lies ahead. As time passes, the movement will lose steam. The politicians know it. They know how to buy time. To be passed into a law, the bill needs to be approved by the parliament and it would be no mean task trying to pass a strong anti-corruption bill through a Lok Sabha whose membership includes 150 members with criminal charges against them ^[17].
This is why it is so important that the movement continues till the end – till the day the bill is passed into a law. The movement for the Jan Lokpal Bill is a spotless movement with a noble objective, advocating a proven policy and it is worth every bit of the effort we put in.

source:rajeshgoradia.com

Team Anna, Govt working on truce; New Lokpal draft readied for all-party meet

Desperate to persuade Anna Hazare to end his fast, now in its ninth day, the government has spent its morning meeting with his representatives.  A new draft of the Lokpal Bill - which will create an independent anti-corruption agency - has been readied after this morning's negotiations. It has been sent to senior minister Pranab Mukherjee for review, and will be circulated this afternoon at an all-party meeting.

74-year-old Anna appeared visibly weakened but delivered a feisty reprimand to the government in his morning address at his camp at Ramlila Maidan.  "This government still does not have the will to fight corruption," he charged.  "I am six kilos lighter...but I am not weak," he said.  "You power me."

The pressure of Anna's health is forcing the government to search for support both with his associates and among the Opposition.  At the heart of the crisis is the Lokpal Bill which is meant to filter out corruption among public servants.  The government has introduced a draft of the bill in parliament.  Team Anna wants that version withdrawn on the grounds that it is designed to provide cover to those accused of graft.  What the government is working on now is a new collaborative draft that pairs its suggestions with those of Team Anna.

It is this new avatar of the Lokpal Bill that will be shared with opposition parties at 3.30 this afternoon.   Kiran Bedi, a member of Anna's core group, tweeted this afternoon that three points of difference remain unresolved.  Along with two other members of Team Anna, she met with Law Minister Salman Khurshid this morning.  "Convergence can be reached," the minister said, "but it cannot happen the instant talks begin." He also said that for the government, ending Anna's fast takes priority over passing the new Lokpal bill before the parliament session ends on September 8.  This deadline was set by Anna's aides; sources in the government say the session may be extended as an extreme measure.

Sources say that most of the contentious issues between Team Anna and the government have been resolved. For example, the government has agreed that the Lokpal Bill should cover the Prime Minister.  The activists, in exchange, have accepted that corruption charges against senior judges will be addressed through the Judicial Accountability Bill, which will be vetted by the activists, and introduced in Parliament along with a modified Lokpal Bill.  There is consensus also on the extent that the anti-corruption wings of the CBI and the Central Vigilance Commission will report to the Lokpal. 

What remains to be resolved is whether junior bureaucrats should be reviewed by the Lokpal Bill. The activists say that's essential; the government says this will require 20,000 people to work with the Lokpal or ombudsman committee.  Other areas of difference include whether states should draft their own versions of the Lokpal Bill or implement the one passed at the Centre. The activists also want a citizen's charter to be adopted by every government department which would detail the duties of officials in that team and include penalties for under-performance.   Sources say that the government is not willing to accept these demands.  

The Prime Minister wrote to Anna last evening, expressing concern over the activist's frail health, and offering that Anna's Lokpal Bill could be studied by the Parliamentary standing committee that already has the government's draft.  However, Team Anna wants their Lokpal Bill to be debated directly by Parliament, which would entail bypassing any deliberations at the committee level.

NDTV india

Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/lokpal-bill-row-all-party-meet-begins-128667&cp

PM appeals to Anna to end his fast; Pranab to lead talks with activists.

Even as Anna Hazare announced that his fast against corruption will continue - the 74-year-old  is now on his eighth day without food - his widely-welcomed movement against corruption seems to be heading into its third act.

In a sign that both Anna's advisors and the government want to find a compromise, activist Arvind Kejriwal met Law Minister Salman Khursheed.  Often described as the hardliner in Anna's team, Mr Kejriwal had regretted this morning that the government had still to invite Team Anna  to a new round of talks.

"Time is running out," said Mr Khursheed. "We need to find a solution fast...and a solution is possible through such talks," he said. 

After the meeting, Mr Kejriwal told reporters that the government has indicated Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee will lead the negotiations with the activists. Sources in the Congress also say that the party is pressuring Rahul Gandhi to write to Anna. Government sources said that the PM may also send a written appeal to Anna, asking him to end his hunger strike. 

The government's frantic attempts to engage Team Anna is provoked by the frail condition of Anna and by the seemingly inexhaustible supply of goodwill that draws people in unprecedented numbers to his sit-in at Ramlila Maidan in the capital. Appearing on stage this morning  amid reports of his worsening health, "I am fine...I have lost 5.5 kilos but my fight continues." (Who is Anna Hazare?)

Anna said he still wants his version of the anti-corruption Lokpal Bill to be passed in Parliament.  Till that happens, he vowed, he will not end his hunger strike.

But his associates indicated subtle new elasticity in their comments today.

Team Anna objects to the government's version of the Lokpal Bill, on the grounds that it provides safe passage to public servants accused of corruption.  The activists who front the India Against Corruption movement have drafted their own version of the Bill.  Two weeks ago, the government ignored Team Anna's bill and introduced its own in Parliament. The activists declared war and delivered on their threat that Anna would start a fast and appeal to Indians to join his demonstration against corruption.

The government had underestimated Anna's appeal in a country confronting massive graft in everyday life and in its political landscape.   While many of the thousands who show up to support Anna don't know how his bill differs from the government's, they say he will help cleanse a system rabid with official improbity.

Anna's health, the fanatical response to him, and the Opposition's support for him has forced the government into a corner from which it's trying to pry its way out.  In the hope of engaging with the Opposition, an all-party meeting has been set for 3.30 tomorrow afternoon. Spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is being used as a channel for negotiations between all three sides - the government, the Opposition and the activists. Sources say the Congress is also pressuring General Secretary Rahul Gandhi to intervene and broker peace with Anna and his associates.

Among Anna's main objections to the government's draft of the Lokpal Bill is that it doesn't apply to the PM, senior judges or junior bureaucrats.  While the government may agree to let the Bill apply to the Prime Minister, the activists say they could be persuaded to accept other pieces of legislation that would tackle corruption among senior judges and junior bureaucrats.

The government's version of the Lokpal Bill has been placed with the Standing Committee of Law and Justice and Personnel - a panel that combines 31 MPs from different parties. Now a Congress MP, Praveen Aron, has tabled Anna's version of the Bill before the same committee. Congress sources say his gesture was encouraged by his party because it allows the Standing Committee to deliberate Anna's Bill as well, or add features from it to the government's version.

NDTV

संसद से ऊंची है जनसंसद: अन्‍ना हजारे

लोकपाल को लेकर अन्‍ना हजारे का अनशन छठे दिन भी जारी है. रामलीला मैदान में अन्‍ना हजारे ने कहा कि हम जनलोकपाल तो लेकर रहेंगे. उन्‍होंने कहा कि इस क्रांति में नवयुवक साथ हैं.

  अन्‍ना हजारे ने कहा कि हर हाल में भ्रष्‍टाचार को खत्‍म करना है. उन्‍होंने आंदोलनकारियों से अपील की कि वे अपने-अपने सांसदों के घर के सामने धरना दें और जनलोकपाल के लिए दबाव बनाएं.


अन्‍ना हजारे ने कहा कि संसद से ऊंची जनसंसद है. उन्‍होंने कहा‍ कि अब मालिक जाग गया है, आखिरकार मालिक मालिक ही रहेगा और सेवक सेवक. देश में भ्रष्‍टाचार के बढ़ रहे मामलों पर अन्‍ना हजारे ने फिर दोहराया कि देश के खजानों को पहरेदारों से ही खतरा है. अन्‍ना ने कहा कि आज लताजी के गाए गीत जरा याद करो कुर्बानी फिर से गाए जाने की जरूरत है.


अन्‍ना के भाषण के तुरंत बाद अरविंद केजरीवाल ने कहा कि वे बातचीत के लिए तैयार हैं. उन्‍होंने कहा कि सभी पार्टिंयों को अपना रुख स्‍पष्‍ट करना च‍ाहिए. सभी सांसदों को बताना चाहिए कि वे किस बिल के साथ हैं. बहरहाल, इस पूरे आंदोलन पर देश की निगाहें टिकी हुई हैं.

Aajtak