India Against Corruption (IAC), the umbrella body spearheading the Jan Lokpal bill agitation, reiterated its opposition to watering down the bill proposed by Anna Hazare.
“The Lokpal and Lokayukta, according to the version of the Bill the protestors want, must be completely independent of any governments – on the lines of the Election Commission or the SC.
“The common man can take complaints of corruption to the Lokpal or Lokayukta, who will investigate the same within specific time-frames,” it said.
It pointed out that the Government’s bill will not help ordinary citizens as it will have only MPs and elected representatives under its purview. Most of the direct instances of corruption faced by ordinary people are implemented by bureaucrats and officials, irrespective of its origin, it pointed out.
“If you’re having trouble getting a ration card, or a passport or a voter ID made, you can make your complaint straight to the Lokpal or the Lokayukta…
“the time-frames specified are one year for the Lokpal to complete its investigations and one more year for the trial. This is aimed at making sure cases do not drag on for years, as they do now,” the added.
IAC also pointed out other crucial differences between the visions of the bill (click table below)