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Jan Lokpal Bill can check corruption: Lyngdoh

By R Dutta Choudhury

GUWAHATI, April 17 � The Jan Lokpal Bill as well as an active civil society can play a major role in checking corruption, observed former Chief Election Commissioner, JM Lyngdoh, who was one of the prominent persons involved in the drafting of the Bill. Lyngdoh also said that opening of the international borders could be one of the ways for economic development of the North East region.

Talking to The Assam Tribune, Lyngdoh expressed dismay over the fact that very often those involved in corruption go unpunished and that is why people are not scared of indulging in corrupt practices. He pointed out that only one small portion of the people of this country are receiving the fruits of development and the moneyed people are getting richer every day, while, the poor are suffering.

It is unfortunate that whenever any major allegation of corruption crops up, the Central Government as well as the concerned State Governments prefer to keep quiet instead of seriously probing into the allegations to take stern action against those involved, he lamented. Giving one such example, he said that when the Wikileaks reports came up, instead of probing into the reports, the Government was only on denial mode and simply ended its role by denying the reports.

Lyngdoh said that in a market driven economy, the temptations are rising for the people and �I am no longer optimistic that corruption can be rooted out from the society. Only a major catastrophe will make the people realize that money is not everything in life,� he added.

On the positive side, Lyngdoh said that the widespread support to the anti-corruption movement by Anna Hazare proved that large sections of the society are fed up with corruption, which is a positive development.

On the steps needed to check corruption, Lyngdoh said that the Jan Lokpal Bill is could be one part of the chain of developments required to check the menace in India. He pointed out that if so called important people are prosecuted for their involvement in corruption, it would instill fear in the minds of the people and that fear is important to check corruption. He pointed out that in most cases, the so called important people go unpunished even after indulging in rampant corruption and that can change if the Jan Lokpal Bill is adopted by the Government of India.

However, the former Chief Election Commissioner said that only the Jan Lokpal Bill would not be enough to check corruption. He stressed the need for an energetic civil society, which can play the role of watchdog to check corruption. Moreover, cross sections of people should be encouraged to make proper use of the Right to Information (RTI) Act to expose corruption in all levels, he added.

Meanwhile, commenting on the economic backwardness of the North East region, Lyngdoh said that opening of the international borders for trade and commerce could be one of the ways to develop the region. This will also remove the geographical isolation of the region, he pointed out.

It may be mentioned here that the Jan Lokpal Bill, drafted by prominent personalities of the country including Lyngdoh envisaged creation of Jan Lokpal, an independent body similar to that of the Election Commission with the power to prosecute politicians and bureaucrats without prior Government permission. The Bill envisages institution of Lokpal at the Centre and Lokayukta at the State level aimed at creating an effective anti-corruption mechanism. As per the draft Bill, the investigation of all corruption cases should be completed within one year and the trial , if required, should be completed in another year. As per the draft Bill, the losses caused to the Government by a corrupt individual, should be recovered at the time of conviction. The Draft Bill also has means for protection of the whistleblowers.

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