Images of the Jan Lokpal awareness drive on 25th June, 2011

These are the images of the Jan Lokpal Awareness drive conducted on the eve of Palkhi in Pune on June 25.

We could reach more than 100000 people.

The response of the people was overwhelming.
It was the biggest event of IAC Pune chapter till date.

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Government Lokpal Bill Vs Jan Lokpal Bill: Comparative Chart

Rather than gunning for the corrupt and corruption, government’s Lokpal seems to be gunning for those who complain against corruption.

How will Government’s Lokpal work?

Suppose some citizen files a complaint to Lokpal against some corrupt government servant. Before the investigations actually start, the government servant can file a cross complaint against the citizen straight to the special court, without any preliminary enquiry by any agency, that the complaint is false or frivolous. The government will provide free advocate to the government servant to file this case. The citizen will have to defend himself on his own!

Then there is stiffer punishment for the complainant than the corrupt government servant. If the Special Court concludes that the complaint is frivolous or false, the citizen faces a minimum of two years of punishment. But if the corruption charges against government servant are proved, there is a minimum of six months of punishment for the corrupt government servant!
Government’s Lokpal will have jurisdiction over all NGOs in the country but it will have jurisdiction over less then o.5% of all government employees.

Government argued that the Lokpal would get overwhelmed with too many cases if all public servants were brought under its ambit. So, government has restricted its jurisdiction only to 65,000 Group A officers. Also, state employees will not be covered by Lokpal. There are 4 million central government employees and 8 million state government employees.

In sharp contrast, all NGOs are covered under government’s Lokpal, small or big, whether in state or centre. Even unregistered groups of people in remote villages are covered under the ambit of Lokpal. So, in a remote village, if a group of youngsters detect corruption in panchayat works using RTI, the youngsters can be hauled up by Lokpal but Lokpal would not have jurisdiction over Sarpanch, BDO or their corruption.

Whereas Lokpal would not have jurisdiction over Delhi government officials, it would have jurisdiction over all RWAs in Delhi. All small neighborhood groups who raise donations to do Ramlila or Durga Puja would be under Lokpal’s scanner.

Lokpal could haul up activists from any of the farmers, labour, anti-corruption, land, tribal or any other movements. All the movements – whether registered or not, are under the jurisdiction of Lokpal.

There are 4.3 lakh registered NGOs. But there would be several million unregistered groups across the country. Lokpal would have jurisdiction over all of them.

No one can dispute the fact that corruption in NGOs needs to be addressed. But how can you leave most public servants out of Lokpal’s purview but bring NGOs upto village level within its purview ?

Issue	Our view	Government’s view	Comments
Prime Minister	Lokpal should have power to investigate allegations of corruption against PM. Special safeguards provided against frivolous and mischievous complaints	PM kept out of Lokpal’s purview.	As of today, corruption by PM can be investigated under Prevention of Corruption Act. Government wants investigations to be done by CBI, which comes directly under him, rather than independent Lokpal
Judiciary	Lokpal should have powers to investigate allegation of corruption against judiciary. Special safeguards provided against frivolous and mischievous complaints	Judiciary kept out of Lokpal purview.	Government wants this to be included in Judicial Accountability Bill (JAB). Under JAB, permission to enquire against a judge will be given by a three member committee (two judges from the same court and retd Chief justice of the same court). There are many such flaws in JAB. We have no objections to judiciary being included in JAB if a strong and effective JAB were considered and it were enacted simultaneously.
MPs	Lokpal should be able to investigate allegations that any MP had taken bribe to vote or speak in Parliament.	Government has excluded this from Lokpal’s purview.	Taking bribe to vote or speak in Parliament strikes at the foundations of our democracy. Government’s refusal to bring it under Lokpal scrutiny virtually gives a license to MPs to take bribes with impunity.
Grievance redressal	Violation of citizen’s charter (if an officer does not do a citizen’s work in prescribed time) by an officer should be penalized and should be deemed to be corruption.	No penalties proposed. So, this will remain only on paper.	Government had agreed to our demand in the Joint committee meeting on 23rd May. It is unfortunate they have gone back on this decision.
CBI	Anti-corruption branch of CBI should be merged into Lokpal.	Government wants to retain its hold over CBI.	CBI is misused by governments. Recently, govt has taken CBI out of RTI, thus further increasing the scope for corruption in CBI. CBI will remain corrupt till it remains under government’s control
Selection of Lokpal members	1. Broad based selection committee with 2 politicians, four judges and two independent constitutional authorities. 2. An independent search committee consisting of retd constitutional authorities to prepare first list. 3. A detailed transparent and participatory selection process.	1. With five out of ten members from ruling establishment and six politicians in selection committee, government has ensured that only weak, dishonest and pliable people would be selected. 2. Search committee to be selected by selection committee, thus making them a pawn of selection committee 3. No selection process provided. It will completely depend on selection committee	Government’s proposal ensures that the government will be able to appoint its own people as Lokpal members and Chairperson. Interestingly, they had agreed to the selection committee proposed by us in the meeting held on 7th May. There was also a broad consensus on selection process. However, there was a disagreement on composition of search committee. We are surprised that they have gone back on the decision.
Who will Lokpal be accountable to?	To the people. A citizen can make a complaint to Supreme Court and seek removal.	To the Government. Only government can seek removal of Lokpal	With selection and removal of Lokpal in government’s control, it would virtually be a puppet in government’s hands, against whose seniormost functionaries it is supposed to investigate, thus causing serious conflict of interest.
Integrity of Lokpal staff	Complaint against Lokpal staff will be heard by an independent authority	Lokpal itself will investigate complaints against its own staff, thus creating serious conflicts of interest	Government’s proposal creates a Lokpal, which is accountable either to itself or to the government. We have suggested giving these controls in the hands of the citizens.
Method of enquiry	Method would be the same as provided in CrPC like in any other criminal case. After preliminary enquiry, an FIR will be registered. After investigations, case will be presented before a court, where the trial will take place	CrPC being amended. Special protection being provided to the accused. After preliminary enquiry, all evidence will be provided to the accused and he shall be heard as to why an FIR should not be regd against him. After completion of investigations, again all evidence will be provided to him and he will be given a hearing to explain why a case should not be filed against him in the court. During investigations, if investigations are to be started against any new persons, they would also be presented with all evidence against them and heard.	Investigation process provided by the government would severely compromise all investigations. If evidence were made available to the accused at various stages of investigations, in addition to compromising the investigations, it would also reveal the identity of whistleblowers thus compromising their security. Such a process is unheard of in criminal jurisprudence anywhere in the world. Such process would kill almost every case.
Lower bureaucracy	All those defined as public servants in Prevention of Corruption Act would be covered. This includes lower bureaucracy.	Only Group A officers will be covered.	One fails to understand government’s stiff resistance against bringing lower bureaucracy under Lokpal’s ambit. This appears to be an excuse to retain control over CBI because if all public servants are brought under Lokpal’s jurisdiction, government would have no excuse to keep CBI.
Lokayukta	The same bill should provide for Lokpal at centre and Lokayuktas in states	Only Lokpal at the centre would be created through this Bill.	According to Mr Pranab Mukherjee, some of the CMs have objected to providing Lokayuktas through the same Bill. He was reminded that state Information Commissions were also set up under RTI Act through one Act only.
Whistleblower protection	Lokpal will be required to provide protection to whistleblowers, witnesses and victims of corruption	No mention in this law.	According to govt, protection for whistleblowers is being provided through a separate law. But that law is so bad that it has been badly trashed by standing committee of Parliament last month. The committee was headed by Ms Jayanthi Natrajan. In the Jt committee meeting held on 23rd May, it was agreed that Lokpal would be given the duty of providing protection to whistleblowers under the other law and that law would also be discussed and improved in joint committee only. However, it did not happen.
Special benches in HC	High Courts will set up special benches to hear appeals in corruption cases to fast track them	No such provision.	One study shows that it takes 25 years at appellate stage in corruption cases. This ought to be addressed.
CrPC	On the basis of past experience on why anti-corruption cases take a long time in courts and why do our agencies lose them, some amendments to CrPC have been suggested to prevent frequent stay orders.	Not included
Dismissal of corrupt government servant	After completion of investigations, in addition to filing a case in a court for prosecution, a bench of Lokpal will hold open hearings and decide whether to remove the government servant from job.	The minister will decide whether to remove a corrupt officer or not. Often, they are beneficiaries of corruption, especially when senior officer are involved. Experience shows that rather than removing corrupt people, ministers have rewarded them.	Power of removing corrupt people from jobs should be given to independent Lokpal rather than this being decided by the minister in the same department.
Punishment for corruption	1. Maximum punishment is ten years 2. Higher punishment if rank of accused is higher 3. Higher fines if accused are business entities 4. If successfully convicted, a business entity should be blacklisted from future contracts.	None of these accepted. Only maximum punishment raised to 10 years.
Financial independence	Lokpal 11 members collectively will decide how much budget do they need	Finance ministry will decide the quantum of budget	This seriously compromises with the financial independence of Lokpal
Prevent further loss	Lokpal will have a duty to take steps to prevent corruption in any ongoing activity, if brought to his notice. If need be, Lokpal will obtain orders from High Court.	No such duties and powers of Lokpal	2G is believed to have come to knowledge while the process was going on. Shouldn’t some agency have a duty to take steps to stop further corruption rather than just punish people later?
Tap phones	Lokpal bench will grant permission to do so	Home Secretary would grant permission.	Home Secretary is under the control of precisely those who would be under scanner. It would kill investigations.
Delegation of powers	Lokpal members will only hear cases against senior officers and politicians or cases involving huge amounts. Rest of the work will be done by officers working under Lokpal	All work will be done by 11 members of Lokpal. Practically no delegation.	This is a sure way to kill Lokpal. The members will not be able to handle all cases. Within no time, they would be overwhelmed.
NGOs	Only government funded NGOs covered	All NGOs, big or small, are covered.	A method to arm twist NGOs
False, Frivolous and vexatious complaints	No imprisonment. Only fines on complainants. Lokpal would decide whether a complaint is frivolous or vexatious or false.	Two to five years of imprisonment and fine. The accused can file complaint against complainant in a court. Interestingly, prosecutor and all expenses of this case will be provided by the government to the accused. The complainant will also have to pay a compensation to the accused.	This will give a handle to every accused to browbeat complainants. Often corrupt people are rich. They will file cases against complainants and no one will dare file any complaint. Interestingly, minimum punishment for corruption is six months but for filing false complaint is two years.

Derailing Lokpal in an Exploitative Democracy

 
By Justice Kamleshwar Nath

“Devil quotes Scriptures”. Look who says: Civil Society undermines Democracy – Government of India’s Chairman of Lokpal Drafting Committee, Mr Pranab Mukherji!

Democracy established by Constitution of India is one of the best in the World; but the People of India, who gave the Constitution to themselves, are reeling under Exploitative Democracy where –

1. An elected Lok Sabha of 543 MPs has 154 facing criminal cases of which about 50 are for committing heinous offences; and this number has increased with every succeeding election.
2. Sitting convicted MPs enjoy immunity from Disqualification under Section 8(4) of Representation of People Act 1951, despite peoples’ demand to repeal the Sub-section.
3. Immunity for conduct in matters related with debates in Houses under Article 105(3) of the Constitution extends to criminal acts, like the infamous Jharkhand Mukti Morcha case of bribe given by the Prime Minister Mr P.V.Narasimha Rao.
4. The emoluments of an MP are 100-times more than the per capita income of a Citizen, and the emoluments go on increasing by leaps and bounds through self-serving enactments passed in no time.
5. Launching of prosecution for Corruption (and related crimes) by elected representatives and bureaucrats needs sanction of some executive authority, and the sanction rarely comes.
6. Anti-corruption measures visualised through an effective Lokpal have been studiously diluted by 9 Bills drafted since 1968 but never passed, the last one being the present Government’s Lokpal Bill 2010 which is the last straw on the back of the Nation in various ways, including ban on the Lokpal to take cognizance of any complaint and certainly not suo motu.
7. International perception of corruption (2010) of 126 countries through surveys made by 10 independent Internationally reputed institutions like World Bank & IBRD, Bertelsman Foundation, World Economic Forum, Global Insight and Transparency International Berlin, ranks India at 87 with countries like Albania, Jamaica and Liberia at index of 3.3 (out of 10) – continuously falling from 3.5 in 2007 and 3.4 in 2008 & 2009 – while countries having effective Ombudsman Institution like Finland, Denmark, Sweden, USA are ranked between 9.7 and 7.
8. Series of Scams have topped with CWG Scam and 2G Spectrum Scam of 2010 which involved some Ministers of Govt. of India, confirming the national level of corruption reflected at (7). Black money stashed away in Foreign Banks has risen to 1,546 billion Dollars which far exceeds the aggregate (1056 bn. $) of ‘next four’ countries namely Russia, UK, Ukraine and China (vide Times of India Ahmedabad dt. 8th June 2011).
9. Violence unleashed by Delhi Police over thousands of peaceful Satyagrahis in the dead of night between 4th and 5th of June last, causing serious injuries to many whose only fault was to be on fast in support of Baba Ram Dev’s call on the Government to get black money indicted at (8) while the Police had given permission to Baba Ram Dev only to hold Yoga camp! Another pretext was that Baba Ram Dev had gone back on his promise to give up fast! Well, this is Pranab Mukherji’s Democracy! A shocked Baba ran for his life and in thoughtless reaction to official brutality announced formation of imaginary volunteer force on some unforeseen period of time to take on the police force when necessary. On the one hand Baba lost his balance due to shock, on the other hand Government lost its balance in sheer anger, born of fear of Peoples’ unification on the Issue of corruption, and on finding Baba’s support from RSS and BJP! And as things unravel from the statements of Pranab Mukherjee, P. Chidambaram, and certain spokespersons of Congress, the Govt. is bent upon using violence not only on Baba but also on Anna Hazare.

Numerous other examples may be catalogued. If this is not Exploitative Democracy, what is it?

   On the moral plane, Govt of India (indeed almost all Governments) run their own model of secularism which excels in Communalism, Casteism, hate for the opponent coupled with ‘divide and rule’. To Indian National Congress, RSS and BJP are the biggest perpetual enemy, shamelessly linking them with the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi despite the fact that they had been cleared by the Court. Religious education in Government educational institutions is prohibited; it is not even substituted by Moral Education of common principles of discipline and good behaviour culled out from all religions in India. The result is growth of generations bereft of morals and ethics – the ever increasing crimes are unfailing signals of that development.

   People have suffered immensely over the last 30 years. It is high time that injustice meted out to the people is remedied of which the first natural step is to eliminate Corruption. The Civil Society is well within its ambitions when it presses upon the Government to enact an effective Lokpal. It has the support of the entire Nation and India-Against-Corruption deserves full-throated praise; Gandhian Seva & Satyagraha Brigade (which floated the concept of Fast), Transparency International India (I believe) and a number of NGOs across the Country have announced their support. Baba Ram Dev too is on the same subject of Corruption; as Anna Hazare said, he is immature added to which is his shocked state due to official violence. He should frankly admit his mistake in being thoughtlessly bold; that will raise his stature in the eyes of people, for acknowledgment of fault is surest atonement of wrong. Even Mahatma Gandhi admitted his “Himalayan Blunder” on Chauri-Chaura episode whereupon he called off his Movement. Government, being what it is, is now linking Hazare and Baba with BJP and RSS, thinking it will justify Government action; but people know better. It is hoped that the crusade against Corruption will go on with added fervour and determination in a non violent, firm and peaceful way. May God be with all crusaders.

Kamleshwar Nath is a Retd Judge, Allahabad High Court and Chairman, Gandhian Seva & Satyagraha Brigade.

साकडं घाला माझ्या विठ्ठलाला | जनलोकपाल बिल मिळूदे भारताला ||

An event to request the warkaris to pray to Lord Vitthal to give Jan Lokpal Bill as a 'Vardan' to the people of INDIA to fight corruption.

Event Date :   25th June, 2011.

Location     :  Alandi - Bhosari Phata - Sancheti Chowk - F C Road - Laxmi Road
                    You can join from where you are convenient. 
Time            :  Morning 6:00 a.m to 7:00 pm.
                    You can join at your feasible time & number of hours.

Awareness about JLB through Ashadi Wari - Palkhi.

The following is the list of locations to meet, volunteers, timing & their contact details. You can join at whichever point you are convenient. Please contact the respective volunteers where you want to join.

Alandi  --   6 a.m.    --     Dnyaneshwar Thube    --     9325702149

Nashik Phata    --   7:30 a.m.     --     Diyangg Baldota     --     9595477797

Kamalnayan Bajaj Garden -- 2 p.m   Click Here   for location on Google map.

This is the main place where most of the volunteers will meet. So, please come to this place if possible.

Rajesh Mittal --   9422541040

Bhavesh Bhati -- 8055939233

Dr.Satish --         9823117434

F C Road     --      5:30 pm     --     Priyesh    --        9767077774

Alka Theatre Chowk       --      7 pm      --     Aniket    --     9890864370

More about the event :

A Wari (Dindi) is held every year from Alandi to Pandharpur in the month of June - July.
This is a 1000-year-old tradition, which has been following by the warkaris. People perform collective singing, dancing, chanting 'Dnyanba-Tukaram' and abhangas.
More than 1 Lakh people attend this Wari every year from all the parts of Maharashtra. It also passes through various places in Pune.

The dindi will enter Pune on 25th June via Bhosari Phata.
A unique way has been thought of creating awareness in the masses through this Wari by IAC Pune.
As lot of people will be present there around 20,000 post card size informative card about Jan Lokpal Bill (JLB) will be distributed among the people.
We will be standing on the sides of the road & distributing the cards.

These cards contain Vitthal God's photo and a request to the warkaris to pray to Lord Vitthal to give Jan Lokpal Bill as a 'Vardan' to the people of INDIA to fight corruption.

This is a great opportunity for us to show our support for the JLB in a devotional way.
So, IAC Pune requests your presence on this auspicious event.

Meeting Minutes of 19th June gathering at Shaniwarwada.

A meeting was called to create an awareness & discuss the next action plan for increasing support for the IAC movement.

          First, the advantages of Jan Lokpal Bill were discussed in short with the people. Later, the people talked about their personal encounter with corruption. A series of queries were raised by the people on the functioning of Lokpal, the allegations made by government and key issues like inclusion of PM, Judiciary in the ambit of Lokpal. These queries were answered by the IAC Pune volunteers.
 
From the overall discussion the following conclusion can be drawn :

• People are angry on the issue of corruption.   
• The people now also do not believe in the allegations made by the government on the civil society members or the IAC movement.
• They have started understanding the politics within the government & it's efforts to derail the process of having a strong Anti-corruption mechanism in the country.
• The government cannot fool the people anymore.

            Talking about the next action plan, a Wari (Dindi) is held every year from Alandi to Pandharpur. 

       This is a 1000-year-old       tradition, which has been following by the warkaris. People perform collective singing, dancing, chanting Dnyanba-Tukaram and abhangas.

More than 1 Lakh people attend this Dindi. It also passes through various places in Pune. The dindi will enter Pune on 25th June. Sighting the large number of people that will be present, it was decided that the awareness about Jan Lokpal Bill(JLB) can be created among the masses by distributing some informative material on JLB there. People present in the meeting gave their committment to volunteer for this event in their convenient time & manner. The detailed information about the event will be mailed via googlegroup & put up on Facebook.   

            Later, a 2 minute silence was observed by all to offer condolence to one of IAC Pune's Volunteer, Mr.Yogesh Pagar who expired on 12th June,2011 in a road accident on Kharadi Bypass road.
           The meeeting ended with Vande Mataram.

To know  more about the event  CLICK HERE

 
To be informed about the 25th June event and other future events, please send the following SMS from your mobile :
ON <space> iacpunecity     to 9870807070.

 
or join us on Facebook : India Against Corruption - Pune Activists Group


To make your contibution to this event in any way like finance, printing material,etc please contact the following numbers :

Gitesh Devhane   9028485261  
Bhavesh Bhati     8055939233


The following people attended the meet :

Dnyaneshwar Thube, 

Arvind Wagaskar, 

Satish Rajarachikar, 

Meena Ranpise, 

Samyek Dutta, 

Ranjit Godbole, 

Ganesh Pawar, 

Vishwanath Washivale,
Swapnil Malwade, 

Aniket Deshmukh, 

Himanshu Nitnawre, 

Shachi Arkatkar,
Vaibhavi Amin, 

Shailesh Hagawane, 

Sumit Saurav, 

Pravin Bhande,
Kalyani Tiwari, 

Rahul Tiwari, 

Mahadev Mulgaonkar, 

Krishnat Shewale,
Pundlik Wagh, 

Harshal Shivarkar, 

Madhavrao Titame, 

Prashant Tarudkar,
P.S.Pardeshi,

Divyangg Baldota, 

Gitesh Devhane, 

Rajesh Mittal, 

Bhavesh Bhati,
Rahul Rao, 

Deepak Bharadia, 

Yatish Devadiga.