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There have been spontaneous
gatherings of millions of people across India and even abroad, to
support Anna Hazare's sathyagraha against corruption in society
and in governance. The gatherings protested against corruption in
general, against arrest of Anna Hazare and demanded his release,
and demanded a strong Lokpal Institution (envisaged in the Jan
Lokpal Bill) instead of the deliberately weak Lokpal Bill proposed
by the Union government. The explosion of public indignation
against endemic – and recently epidemic – corruption has been
especially intense starting 16 August 2011, the day Anna Hazare
began his sathyagraha at New Delhi.
An interesting observation
concerning all the demonstrations is that almost all the
protestors, and certainly all the prominent protestors, were from
the socio-economic middle and upper-middle class. There was a
striking absence of daily wage earning people and Dalit
organizations. The political class was conspicuous by its absence,
conveying the impression that they are shocked by such public
spontaneity when mass mobilization in recent times has only been
at meetings called by political parties which spend money
(obtained from corrupt practices) to “rent the crowd”.
Certainly they have been absent
because they are aware that the public in general is disgusted
with their corrupt practices, especially those involving money and
dealings with corrupting business corporations. Also shocking to
the political class is that there have been no instances of
violence in spite of the charged atmosphere and enormous numbers
in the streets over successive days. It may not be far from the
truth to say that the political class in general has been scared
by the outburst of public indignation against corruption.
Current situation
Apart from the unprecedented din and
clamour of support for Anna Hazare, there is concern that the
Union government on the one hand and Anna Hazare's group (often
referred to as “Team Anna”, a term that we will use here) on the
other, are retreating into opposite corners of the political
boxing ring. Team Anna opines that the Union Government has
produced an unacceptably weak, even a “pro-corruption” Lokpal
Bill, citing several reasons. The Union Government adopted a
feckless policy, first agreeing to a Joint Committee, then
refusing to admit the validity of Team Anna's opinion, acting in
haste to arrest Anna Hazare in an abortive attempt to suppress his
peaceful movement, and finally ending up on the back foot with his
release and agreeing to his continuing his protest fast at Ram
Lila Maidan. Government's position continues to be that Anna
Hazare's stand is an assault on Parliament and the parliamentary
process, and hence unacceptable. This has created a binary
situation of “if-you-are-not-with-us-you-are-against-us”, between
a government increasingly seen as reluctant to check corruption
and Team Anna backed by millions of supporters. This bodes ill for
democracy.
In this situation the Parliamentary
Standing Committee has called for public comments on the issue by
September 4, 2011, indicating Parliament's willingness to consult
the public. It is also reported that the Union government has
offered to talk with Team Anna, but it may well be because it is
wary of repercussions of Anna Hazare's failing health, and not
because it genuinely seeks a resolution to the stand-off. This
doubt should not be interpreted as cynicism in view of the Union
government's track record.
Wide definition of
corruption
Corruption is not only financial in
nature. Common understanding of the word bhrashtachaara concerns
paying or receiving bribes in cash or kind at the level of
ordinary citizens dealing directly with government officials, and
corruption involved at high (governmental) levels in agreements,
MoUs and contracts with large business corporations. But in the
wider sense, acts involving large and small scale social and
economic discrimination and violence (commonly termed athyachaara)
also constitute corruption, and political corruption is a whole
separate area. Therefore, while current public focus is only on
the financial sense of corruption, the wider issues call for
social and political reform.
Jan Lokpal Bill
The demand of the many millions of
people who support Anna Hazare is for the Jan Lokpal Bill as an
alternative to the Union government's Lokpal Bill which they
reject outright. All thinking people understand the need for
strong, institutionalized powers to combat corruption. However,
the Jan Lokpal Bill seeks to create a Lokpal Institution with
enormous concentration of power which has potential to vitiate
democracy.
The sentiments of the huge masses of
people who have come out in strong support of the Jan Lokpal Bill
and Anna Hazare's deteriorating health cannot be ignored. However,
among the millions of supporters of the Jan Lokpal Bill, the
number of people who have have had access to the draft(s) of the
Jan Lokpal Bill and among them, those who have read and understood
it are minuscule in comparison. It is Anna Hazare's peaceful and
non-violent initiative that has provided opportunity for people
across India to demand accountability from governments concerning
corruption. But the “civil society opinion” displayed by the
enormous nation-wide support created by Anna Hazare's sathyagraha
for the Jan Lokpal Bill is not an indication of its being the best
option.
Third Position
In view of the stand-off, there is
need for a “third position” between the opposing and apparently
irreconciliable positions of the Union Government and Team Anna.
Best expressed by Aruna Roy among others, it rejects the Union
government's weak Lokpal Bill and is in complete agreement with
the need for a strong Lokpal Institution. But at the same time it
notes that the Jan Lokpal Bill will create an unduly powerful
Lokpal Institution. This third position is inclusive, and calls
for strengthening existing institutions like the CAG and CVC, and
creating new institutions that wield power in delineated areas. It
overcomes concentration of vast jurisdiction over the length and
breadth of government machinery in one institution, as envisaged
in the Jan Lokpal Bill. Team Anna's insistence on passing the Jan
Lokpal Bill in Parliament by 31 August will vitiate meaningful
debate in Parliament.
There is general understanding of
the supremacy of We the People and, between the three pillars of
the Constitution, in the primacy of the central and state
legislatures elected by We the People. Members of Parliament need
to be fully aware of the content and the ramifications of the
extreme positions adopted by the Union government and Team Anna in
order to have a meaningful debate. Thus at this critical juncture
there is great relevance of the “third position” proposal to
initiate debate. This proposal includes inclusion / creation of
the following five bodies, the names or titles of which are not
sacrosanct but the functions of which together constitute a system
rather than a single, very powerful body that the Jan Lokpal Bill
seeks to create:
Rashtriya Bhrashtachar Nivaran
Lokpal (National Anti-corruption Lokpal): An institution to
address corruption of all elected representatives, including the
Prime Minister (with some safeguards), Ministers and Members of
Parliament and senior bureaucrats (Group ‘A’ officers), and all
other co-accused including those in the private and social sector.
The RBNL will be financially and administratively independent of
the government and will have both investigative and prosecution
powers.
Kendriya Satarkata Lokpal (Central
Vigilance Commission): Amend the Central Vigilance Commission Act
to remove the single directive and empower the CVC to investigate
corruption and take appropriate action against mid-level
bureaucracy.
Nyayapalika Lokpal (Judicial
Standards and Accountability Lokpal): Strengthen the existing
Judicial Accountability and Standards Bill, that is currently
before Parliament, to ensure that the Judiciary is also made
effectively and appropriately accountable, without compromising
its independence from the Executive or the integrity of its
functions.
Shikayat Nivaran Lokpal (Public
Grievances Lokpal): Set up an effective time-bound system for
grievance redressal for common citizens, to make the government
accountable in terms of its functions, duties, commitments and
obligations towards citizens. The grievance redressal structure to
have decentralized institutional mechanisms going right down to
each ward/block level, and ensure a bottom-up, people-centric
approach, so that complaints and grievances can be dealt with
speedily and in a decentralized, participatory and transparent
manner. It will integrate public vigilance processes like
vigilance committees and social audits, and provide for
facilitation for the filing of all grievances/complaints through
the setting up of block information and facilitation centres in
every Block (rural) and Ward (urban) in the country. The grievance
redressal mechanism will be a 3-tier structure consisting of
grievance redressal officers at the local level within the
department, independent district level grievance redressal
authorities and central/state level grievance redressal
commission. It will include and rationalize existing structures.
Lokrakshak Lokpal (Whistleblower
Protection Lokpal): To strengthen the existing Public Interest
Disclosure and Protection to Persons Making the Disclosure Bill,
which is currently before the Parliament, to ensure appropriate
protection of whistleblowers.
The above five institutions are to
also be established at the State level where relevant. Staffing of
these institutions would be through a common selection process.
All these measures need to be brought in simultaneously to
effectively tackle corruption at all levels and also provide a
mechanism to redress grievances of citizens.
Way ahead
The Third Position is not a
solution, but can serve as a starting input for public as well as
parliamentary debate that can yield results in keeping with
democratic processes. It steers clear of the current polarized
positions adopted by the Union government and Team Anna. The five
institutions suggested cater for check on corruption by
bureaucrats at all levels of governance, for legislators' actions
both inside and outside legislatures, check on the judiciary,
handling of public grievances, and protection for whistleblowers.
A single institution as envisaged in the Jan Lokpal Bill would not
be able to efficiently handle this multiplicity of functions.
If the Third Position proposal is
introduced in Parliament in the current monsoon session, it can be
debated meaningfully and passed in the forthcoming winter session.
Having waited for decades, a few more weeks is not a big sacrifice
to get an effective Lokpal Institution. It is necessary to repeat
that this proposal is not a solution to the problem of corruption.
Electoral reforms, land reforms, police reforms, land acquisition
and rehabilitation and resettlement laws etc., will also need to
be formulated by government in consultation with people, without
creating a situation like the current stand-off. This will call
for political sagacity and faith in the Constitution among the
political class at State and Centre.
S.G.Vombatkere
retired as major general after 35 years in the Indian military. He
is engaged in voluntary social work, and is member of the National
Alliance of People's Movements (NAPM) and People's Union for Civil
Liberties (PUCL). As Adjunct Associate Professor of the University
of Iowa, USA, he coordinates and lectures a course on Science,
Technology and Sustainable Development for under-graduate students
from USA and Canada. He holds a master of engineering degree in
structural engineering from the University of Poona and a PhD in
civil structural dynamics from I.I.T, Madras. He can be reached at
sg9kere@live.com
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