JAN LOKPAL: IS THE JAN LISTENING ?

The pertinent question that is being overheard right from the ‘chaiwala kaka at the every nukad’ (tea stall at the every corner) to media rooms everywhere is whether India as a nation can overcome corruption. Are we failing as a nation to curb corruption? Will the Jan Lok Bill be able to solve this menace? The question - Are our elected representatives really serious on the question of eradicating corruption or are they too afraid in terms of losing their cattle in the process? is on everyone’s mind.

Time will tell whether the words of John Adams come true for our great democracy. One thing is for sure we are definitely heading into turbulent weather. A team of Eastern Panorama had set out to discover answers to these questions. People, young and old, students and entrepreneurs were all asked a set of questions face to face on these issues. The awareness of the people on a Bill which ought to bring about a great change in the mindset of the perpetrators of corruption was tested. While many had heard about the Jan Lok Pal Bill many more pleaded ignorance. Superintendent of police in two of the states pleaded total ignorance on an Act where there was a proposal to allow a statutory body to register FIRs and pursue investigations. The main inference of the people as is in India is to let the leader make the sacrifice and we add on the numbers. This is exactly the case with a majority of the people’s understanding of the bill as ‘Anna Hazare is fighting against corruption and we will support him’. In the words of a labourer Sharukh who said he had heard about the Bill but when he tried to enquire about it, he was asked what he would do by understanding it. However many in Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram had heard of the Ombudsman Bill in its earlier form which was discussed during the VP Singh’s government and then again during the NDA government in 2001. The plight of the Civil society facing the government head on is that apart from the few now known faces of the movement it has not been able to create state wise leaders who can spring the local populace into action thereby creating more pressure on the government.

With the rejection of most of the crucial points in the proposed draft of the civil society and the clearance given by the Cabinet for the draft of the government version of the Lokpal Bill, much is at stake for the citizens of the country. I remember distinctly asking the former Accountant General of Meghalaya Mr. Omkar Nath why the CAG is functioning as a toothless tiger. Well the response was that it is up to the media to bring their findings to the people. But the crucial point that Mr. Nath had forgotten is that in India, the rules are not the same for everybody. And not every commoner can risk his daily bread in pursuit of the corrupt. It is the job of the agencies made to do so but they are controlled by the very same people who are in power. What is interesting is that in every report released by the Audit department every year, they mention that the response of many of the government departments is unsatisfactory. This being only one example among many, the question remains - Will the government ‘dare to do’ another Baba in Delhi on the 16th of August. With Team Anna resolving to an indefinite fast as of now, can the government actually sideline the views of the people who are putting nation before self.

What is cancerous for the ruling government is that their talisman of youth Rahul Gandhi is losing its shine very quickly. Among the surveyed youths who formed the majority of the respondents 60% believe that the government is not serious about eradicating corruption. With this donward slide of the face of the party will the ruling government be able to survive the youth onslaught that is a ticking time bomb? One needs to remember that in the near future India will have a man power that no country has seen, fearing which even China has brought in a relaxation to its one child policy.

Whatever the outcome of Jan Lokpal Bill is, the thing that should be made sure of is that it should not be made a department in name only thereby wasting hard earned public money. We have examples of such departments existing across the globe which are independent and keep a check on their respective countries.

While the ruling AICC spokesperson Mr Singhvi had said “We are not a banana republic. We are a proud democracy. If anyone is apprehensive of misuse of any provision then they can go to court” he was uncomfortable about questions raised on the hue and cry of the Congress after the arrest of Rahul Gandhi by the Mayawati government in Noida for protesting against police firing on farmers in Bhatta Parasul. With such double standards, is the ruling government which has a major role in shaping what India is today undo the good that its predecessors have achieved or its just plain POLITICS?

Is it ‘Free India’ or a ‘Free Corrupt India’ will be known in the time to come. Until then as concerned ‘JAN’ (citizens) of India we must make sure that every effort of ours is made to make Free India, free of any corruption. After all, the very pertinent question ‘is the Jan listening ?’ needs to be addressed not by the Civil Societies or the Government or any Politcal Party but by the Jan itself.

With inputs from:

Chow Bilaseng Namchoom, D.B. Rai, Xavier Rutsa, Pratap Chhetri, Manav Dey, Pinaki Das.