Lok Pal : Joke of the year - Packaging a bunch of lies !
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: June 11, 2011 -

It is getting more and more comical by the day apart from the fact that the Congress led UPA Government has no intention to address the question of corruption in the country.

Consulting the Chief Ministers of the State on the proposed Lok Pal Bill sounds wonderful and is in sync with the federal structure of the land but the joke will not be lost on anyone with a modicum of intelligence.

Packaging may be the mantra in the corporate world, but in governance its shelf life will be extremely short and of no significance and the decision of the UPA Government to consult the Chief Ministers of all the States of the Indian Union on a Bill which aims to check corruption, is at best a desperate attempt at sugar coating a whole pack of lies and political double speak with democratic principles.

Already some Chief Ministers and State Governments have jumped at the "privilege" of being consulted by the Centre on a crucial Bill and not surprisingly some of them have gone on record to state that there is no need to bring the office of the Prime Minister, the higher Judiciary, top Government officials or the Babudom and Members of Parliament.

This comes in the face of the strong stand taken by the representatives from civil society organisations that the proposed Bill should cover everyone. Delhi reaching out to the State capitals is nothing but an attempt to find friends to ward off the piling pressure and this is where the agenda of the UPA Government becomes clearer by the day. Mr O Ibobi is also among the Chief Ministers who have raised their opposition against an all enveloping Lok Pal Bill and this will not shock anyone.

In one single stroke, these supposed leaders of the people have managed to give an official touch to the division between those in seats of power and privileges and those outside the periphery of the decision making circle. Whether this violates the Constitution of the country or not may be left to the Constitutional experts, but the implication is clear.

It means there will be certain sets of people who will be beyond the ambit of this Bill while others, who come lower down the pecking order will come under a sharp scrutiny. Those who believe in fixing accountability from the top and privileges coming with its share of responsibilities may go take a walk. This is what leaders like the Chief Minister of Manipur believes and practices.

The Congress led SPF Government or rather the Cabinet did not waste any time in coming to a decision when the Centre's intimation reached Imphal. This may be seen as a welcome break from precedents, for the SPF Government had earned the earned the dubious distinction of continuously failing to meet the deadlines of any project or scheme and for failing to utilise the funds allotted by the Centre on time.

It is amazing to see how fast the SPF Cabinet has wisened to the fact that procrastination does not serve the interest of anyone. If this sense of urgency was shown in other spheres, such as the ongoing work at the Imphal Sewerage Project, then Manipur may fit the slogan, "Manipur Shining." No pun intended here.

The very fact that representatives of the civil society organisations have deemed it necessary that the proposed Lok Pal Bill should cover the higher ups in the echelons of power and authority is pregnant with meaning. The stand of Chief Ministers like Mr O Ibobi has only gone to add that much more meaning to the stand taken up by the likes of Anna Hazare.

We may ask why there is the need to frame a law to check corruption in the first place. The answer is obvious and not very pleasant. Indians are corrupt by and large. They are also wily and know how to beat the system and hence the staggering amount of black money stashed away in Swiss banks. Interestingly the level of corruption gets higher as one climbs the ladder of power and authority.

Even the armed forces, which are viewed as a Holy Cow, are today embroiled in a series of scams with the Sukhna land deal and the Adarsh housing scandal tumbling out in quick succession, to cite just two more recent examples. India has felt the necessity to frame laws to deal with acts of terrorism as well as those viewed as anti-Nationals and the Seditious Act, different versions of TADA, the controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act etc. are the by products of this feeling of necessity.

The interesting part is whether the Chief Ministers of the States were taken into confidence when Parliament had to pass these Bills or not. Maybe Mr Ibobi and his ilk may furnish the answer.

The simple truth is, a Bill like the Lok Pal Bill is felt necessary because corruption has eaten into the vitals of the Government machinery, sapped the morale of society, sacrificed merit and hard work and has given rise to a culture where the only language that is understood is money and nothing else.

And it also stands true that corruption flows from the top to the bottom and not from the bottom to the top. This is the basic reality and if the UPA Government is not willing to acknowledge the fact then it should abort the idea of passing the Lok Pal Bill altogether.

If the belief that responsibility and accountability should start from the top can be trashed then the UPA Government should be able to trash what it has ratified internationally.

A Lok Pal Bill, which cannot probe the offices of the higher seats of power and authority has no business to be there. It will not only mean insulting the sensibilities of the people, but will also mean wasting precious time and resources.