Third draft of Lokpal bill by Aruna Roy seeks middle path

Anna Hazare’s campaign for a strong anti-corruption bill has left other pro-active civil society groups marginalized and they feel that Team Anna has hijacked the entire issue.

Another group of civil society members led by Aruna Roy and Harsh Mander, which, too, has extensively worked for a strong Lokpal Bill has upped its ante against Team Anna.

The group under the banner of National Campaign for People’s Right to Information (NCPRI) feels Anna’s diktat for his bill can be dangerous and that the government’s functioning cannot be handled by one group. This group too wishes to be heard by the parliamentary standing committee and feels that Anna does not alone represent the entire civil society.

“Anna is not civil society and civil society is not Anna… The entire civil society should be heard by the government and not just one group,” said the group which also has social activist Nikhil Dey and retired Justice AP Shah as its supporters.

It believes Hazare’s approach to get the Jan Lokpal Bill passed and his attitude “My Bill or No Bill” is not appropriate. At the same time, they also feel that the government’s Lokpal Bill leaves a lot to be desired.

Roy and Mander — both part of the National Advisory Council headed by Sonia Gandhi —  also have a version of Lokpal Bill which they will present to the parliamentary Standing Committee. According to them, their Bill will strike a middle path between the government’s and Anna’s Bills.

“I think Annaji is ill-advised. Anyone who says my view should be the only view is wrong. The government’s bill is weak and some of its sections are also dangerous. But it is not a pathetic bill which should be dumped… I believe if we depose before the standing committee with well stacked arguments, we can change the bill around,” said Roy while Mander added that intolerance among people who feel they are correct is wrong.

Mander said it is wrong to feel parliament cannot give us the right law. “In democracy we must respect divergent views,” he said. He added that the RTI, NREGA and all such bills passed by parliament were result of social movements and people’s struggle. But the civil society should not try to dictate.

Roy also said Anna should not deride democratic institutions. According to her, there is still scope for the civil society group to change the government’s version of the bill.

“We must assert our rights. But to get rid of these institutions would be a great disaster for all the people in this country. Therefore, we must make it work. In democracy we must make these democratic institutions work for us,” Roy said.