Gov of India vs Jan Lokpal

Most of you might be wondering why there is such an enormous resistance to the Jan Lokpal bill in India. Surely, a campaign against corruption can only mean political wins to those who support it?

Wrong.

To give you concrete evidence that the only reason the powers that be are resisting the bill desperately or trying to water it down, presented is a case-by-case analysis, which juxtaposes what the proponents of the bill (Team Anna + the public) want drafted and what the Govt of India would like to change about it, before passing it as a law. 

Keep in mind, that these are just some of the very large number of proposed measures.

__1

What the bill proposes: Lokpal will have the powers to investigate the prime minister.

What GOI/Congress wants changed: Lokpal does not have powers to investigate the prime minister.

__2

What the bill proposes: Lokpal will have powers to initiate suo moto action or receive complaints of corruption from any citizen if it deems it worthy

What GOI/Congress wants changed: Lokpal can only probe complaints approved by the Speaker of the Lok Sabha or the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha.

__3

What the bill proposes: Lokpal will have the power to initiate prosecution of anyone found guilty.

What GOI/Congress wants changed: Lokpal will only be an Advisory Body with a role limited to forwarding reports to a “Competent Authority”.

__4

What the bill proposes: Lokpal will have police powers as well as the ability to register FIRs.

What GOI/Congress wants changed: Lokpal will have no police powers and no ability to register a First Information Report or proceed with criminal investigations.

__5

What the bill proposes: Lokpal and the anti corruption wing of the CBI will be one independent body.

What GOI/Congress wants changed: The CBI and Lokpal will be unconnected.

__6

What the bill proposes: Punishments will be a minimum of 10 years and a maximum of up to life imprisonment.

What GOI/Congress wants changed: Punishment for corruption will be a minimum of 6 months and a maximum of up to 7 years.

(Source: joethought)

Lets not stop till we have the Jan Lokpal Bill.

We shouldn’t let this people’s movement against corruption lead by Anna Hazare to fade away into oblivion, we shouldn’t loose the momentum in fighting for the Jan Lokpal Bill.

We can’t let the political establishment fool us any more with false promises, we can’t accept a toothless tiger to take pictures with, we need a bill that will empower us to fight corruption, a bill that for sure will tackle corruption and bring us out of the pathetic state we are in.

Apathy leads to a slow death of democracy. Our indifference now could be a step towards that.