Life after Lokpal
2010 and 2011 can rightly be labelled as the Golden Era of corruption with corruption scandals and cases of financial irregularities overwhelming one and all in the country. While big ticket corruption scams stand exposed, one cannot rule out the rampant prevalence of transactional and retail corruption that has made this problem endemic to the system.
The last couple of months have been action filled as frustrated, angry and disenchanted people stormed the streets in protest against the government to demand a strong legislation against our venal system. Anna Hazare, the face of the movement set the ball rolling by bringing to light deliberations on the need for tighter and stronger anti-corruption enforcements. This was followed by a joint committee of the government and civil society embarking on the arduous journey of working out the details of this proposed legislation. As the next round of negotiations begin, it is important to reflect on the extent to which Lokpal will be the final solution to India’s corruption problem.
A major section of the intelligentsia is strongly in favour of a Lokpal supplemented by parallel reforms and feeder systems. Therefore, while enacting legislation for a Lokpal at the Centre and Lokayukta in the states is recognised, strengthening the already existing enforcements and institutions cannot be undermined. The starting point of this exercise should be enlarging the definition of corruption. Corruption as recognised by India is limited to giving and taking of bribes in the public sector. No institution or legislation can be successful if this definition is not redefined in line with internationally accepted definition of corruption.
Having said that, one should know what the provisions of the Jan Lokpal Bill are:
A look at the salient features of Jan Lokpal Bill:
1. An institution called LOKPAL at the centre and LOKAYUKTA in each state will be set up.
2. Like the Supreme Court and Election Commission, they will be completely independent of the government. No minister or bureaucrat will be able to influence their investigations.
3. Cases against corrupt people will not linger on for years anymore: Investigations in any case will have to be completed in one year. Trial should be completed in the next one year so that the corrupt politician, officer or judge is sent to jail within two years.
4. The loss that a corrupt person causes to the government will be recovered at the time of conviction.
5. How will it help a common citizen? If any work of any citizen is not done within the prescribed time in any government office, the Lokpal will impose financial penalty on guilty officers, which will be given as compensation to the complainant.
6. So, you could approach the Lokpal if your ration card or passport or voter card is not delivered to you, or if the police refuse to register your case, or any other work is not being done in prescribed time. The Lokpal will have to get it done in a month's time. You could also report any case of corruption to the Lokpal like ration being siphoned off, poor quality roads been constructed or Panchayat funds being siphoned off. The Lokpal will have to complete its investigations in a year, trial will be over in the next one year and the guilty will go to jail within two years.
7. But won't the government appoint corrupt and weak people as Lokpal members? That won't be possible because its members will be selected by judges, citizens and constitutional authorities and not by politicians, through a completely transparent and participatory process.
8. What if some officer in the Lokpal becomes corrupt? The entire functioning of Lokpal/ Lokayukta will be completely transparent. Any complaint against any officer of Lokpal shall be investigated and the officer dismissed within two months.
9. What will happen to existing anti-corruption agencies? The CVC, departmental vigilance and anti-corruption branch of CBI will be merged with Lokpal. The Lokpal will have complete powers and machinery to independently investigate and prosecute any officer, judge or politician.
10. It will be the duty of the Lokpal to provide protection to those who are being victimized for raising their voice against corruption.
The Bill vests the power and autonomy with this one institution called the Lokpal, as is evident from the above discussed provisions. But this clause brings with it, its very own dangers by giving absolute power to the office of the Lokpal. Therefore, strong decentralisation power is being touted as the panacea for corruption. This can be achieved by strengthening the already existing Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) and National Judicial Standards and Accountability Commission (NJSCA) supplemented by instituting a Public Grievances Cell. While the Lokpal can address big ticket scams and scandals, the investigation of the cases against the lower rungs of the bureaucracy should be undertaken by the CVC and the judiciary by the NJSCA. Making Lokpal an absolute authority therefore, might prove right the saying, “absolute power corrupt absolutely.” Nevertheless the implementation of a whistleblower’s protection act and asset recovery mechanism are welcome steps as every citizen must be assured of recovering the losses incurred as well as safety from harassment and exploitation.
Reforms are the key to bringing about any systemic change. The Jan Lokpal Bill is a great start in this direction. But it cannot be considered to be the absolute authority as it is exposed to the dangers of defeating the sole purpose behind its enforcement. A decentralised approach with parallel reforms needs to be advocated to minimise graft and improve public delivery mechanisms. Corruption in a democracy can be monitored, regulated and eliminated by putting in place multi-institutional and multi-level reforms.