With Team Anna saying that they would not call off their agitation unless the Jan Lokpal Bill is passed by Parliament by this month-end, and the government insisting there is no way that the due parliamentary process would be over by then, there seems to be no meeting ground for now.
Let's not forget that before Team Anna hardened its stance, perhaps as a result of losing all faith in the government's intent to act in good faith, it had primarily been insisting on (a) withdrawal of the Govt Draft and (b) introduction of a strong Lokpal Bill that would take the main principles of the Jan Lokpal Bill on some of the contentious issues, viz. Selection process of Lokayuktas and Lokpal; Jurisdiction on PM, Judiciary, MPs, lower bureaucracy, NGOs; CBI and CVC and Grievance Redressal. Its insistence now on passing of the Jan Lokpal Bill seems to be more of a maximalist bargaining tactics.
Check out the full coverage on these and more issues concerning the debate
The government, on its part, points to the versions and critique of both the drafts put out by the National Campaign for People's Right to Information (NCPRI) to point out the problems with the Jan Lokpal Bill.
Also see:
- A comparison and the points of contention between the major drafts.
- Critiques and suggestions put forward by the National Campaign for People's Right to Information (NCPRI) | More NCPRI Documents
- Justice A P Shah & Venkatesh Nayak critique the Jan Lokpal Bill
What do you think?
Do you have any concrete suggestions to help resolve the crisis?
Please share your suggestions about the possible way forward with specific steps that the government and Team Anna need to take to break the logjam.
Post Script: Now that the PM has written to Anna Hazare saying that the "government is prepared to request the Speaker, Lok Sabha to formally refer the Jan Lokpal Bill also to the Standing Committee for their holistic consideration alongwith everything else," do you think we are closer to a resolution, particularly as the PM goes on to say:
Furthermore, if you have any anxieties about time and speed, the Government can formally request the Standing Committee to try, subject to its discretion and the necessity to reflect deeply and spend adequate time on an important Bill, and fast track their deliberations to the extent reasonably feasible.
I would like to say that this letter and each suggestion herein is actuated solely by the twin considerations of deep and genuine concern about your health and the emergence of a strong and effective Lok Pal Act in accordance with established constitutional precept and practice.
I do hope that you will consider my suggestions and end your fast to regain full health and vitality.
Do you think Team Anna should take the PM's letter seriously, Anna Hazare should end his fast and call off the agitation? Or do you think this is just another delaying tactics on the part of the PM to buy time?
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AUG 24, 2011 07:32 PM 22 | the government has to get its act together. the prime minister, by his actions or non-actions has degraded the office of the prime minister. now, the union cabinet has also been degraded because the cabinet had approved the government's lokpal draft and sent it to the standing committee. if the cabinet was judicious, it should have called for the jan lokpal bill and sent it also to the standing committee. however, the cabinet has eminent parliamentarians and seasoned ministers and praiseworthy bureaucrats and many former chief ministers and i fail to see how these venerable persons misread the situation and acted irresponsibly. the prudent thing to be done was to diffuse the situation, opened a dialogue with team anna, the opposition parties, other civil society members, nac, various industry bodies, representatives of the agricultural community and others. the cabinet could have set up a committee with members drawn from all the above and asked the committee to examine both the drafts and any other views that may be submitted in a fixed time frame, say one month, and then debate among the members of the cabinet. after these deliberations it could have sent the bill with amendments, if any, to the standing committee. even now, it is not too late. the team anna campaign has struck an emotional chord in the minds of the people as corruption touches every segment of human society. the cabinet must take suo moto action on the lines suggested above and create a well thought out and debated action plan to eradicate corruption. the intransigent stand taken by team anna is only to make the government take a hard line on anticorruption. after all, the government has all the weapons in its armoury. it should use to address the people's concerns. in fact, i would go to the extent of saying that, if the prime minister exercises his authority he can present a bill which is more stringent than team anna's and i can assure the prime minister the people of india would make him prime minister for life. |
AUG 24, 2011 06:52 PM 21 | May be the acting chief of Congress party can suggest a way out of this impasse. "PM can come under Lokpal so long as he is member of Rajyasabha" |
AUG 24, 2011 05:50 PM 20 | Our PM has already indicated that the Jan Lokpal bill as proposed by his government would be withdrawn. Now one good thing that can be done by Congress and BJP and other parties is to forget party differences and decide on a final draft of the Lokpal bill with as many acceptable points/ provisions from the Jan Lokpal bill. Well wishers of Anna can then persuade him and his team to give consent to such a final draft. |
AUG 24, 2011 05:20 PM 19 | Folks, take it from me. Are you ready for that? |
AUG 24, 2011 01:47 PM 18 | People dont realize. It is rahul alone who is blocking the bill and on his orders the sarkari lokpal bill was created. Even yesterday night (in india) the government was discussing how to forcefeed anna and not bringing the bill. |
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