Indian
Express: New Delhi: Sunday, November 04, 2012.
There is a
need to strengthen the institution of the Lokayukta and arrest the “systemic
incompetence and social apathy” that gives fosters corruption that was
consensus at the 11th Lokayukta Conference held in New Delhi on Saturday.
Lauding the
efforts of anti-corruption activists such as Anna Hazare, several speakers
stressed the need to “provide teeth” more powers of supervision and
investigation to the Lokayukta to effectively deal with corruption.
Justice
Subhashan Reddy, the Lokayukta of Andhra Pradesh, pointed out that since
investigation agencies are outside its control, the Lokayukta has to function
with the support of officials it is supposed to investigate.
Vigilance
Commissioner R Sri Kumar called for a “multi-jurisdictional information sharing
mechanism” and a system that ensures an officer is punished for “shabby
investigation due to incompetence or corruption”. “The Vigilance commission,
like Lokayukta, is also inhibited in its investigations in the absence of
independence since we need sanction from the very same government and
bureaucracy that we are trying to investigate. The kinship in the bureaucracy
means that permissions can be withdrawn at any stage,” he added.
Social activist
Aruna Roy and Chief Information Commissioner Satyananda Mishra underlined the
role of RTI in the eradication of corruption. “RTI is part of the defensive
mechanism against corruption while the Lokayukta is part of the offensive
strategy in the war against corruption,” Mishra said.
Roy also said
that “social audit” and participation of people was necessary to eradicate
corruption.
The role of
common people was also emphasised by former CBI chief RK Raghavan who called
for ethics education to impart the value of integrity to police and people. “A
drastic change in curriculum is necessary since today’s generation has no real
life role models to emulate,” he said.
Comptroller
and Auditor General Vinod Rai called upon the public to “keep the space around
ourselves clean”. Senior advocate Parag Tripathi echoed the sentiment. He said
widespread corruption has created a situation where “society is at a risk of
destroying itself” due to the “trust deficit between the public and the people
in power”.
Former Chief
Election Commissioner S Y Qureshi suggested that instead of clamouring for new
institutions, the existing ones should be strengthened. “Instead of creating a
new, all-powerful Lokpal, it would be better if we gave constitutional status
to the Vigilance Commission,” said Qureshi. He also favoured greater powers of
investigation, search and seizure to the Lokayukta.
.JPG)
.JPG)
