The agitation to demand a strong Lokpal is not aimed against any individual or party, anti-corruption campaigner Anna Hazare said. He said that the agitation is not against any individual or party. The common man is finding it impossible to live without encountering corruption. Corruption has now increased and thereby it has led to inflation and price rise and stated that corruption is the root cause of inflation. He said at a press-meeting organised by the Mumbai Marathi Patrakar Sangh that the problem of corruption may not come to an end altogether but can curb it at least by 80 to 90 per cent. The Gandhian recalled that it was on August 9, when he went on a fast in Mumbai to seek the Right to Information Act in Maharashtra. He also added that the fight against corruption is the second battle for independence. Lakhs of people have sacrificed their lives to force British out of the country. But in the last 65 years, there has been no change. Hazare said that the scams like 2G spectrum allocation scam and Suresh Kalmadi's CWG scam were unearthed due to RTI Act. But this Act lacks the power from jailing the culprits. The Jan Lokpal Bill has this power and it was for this reason they have been asking the government to enact this legislation. He favoured the strong punishment to deter the corrupt. And hence he said that the corrupt should be hanged. Also added that there should be a provision to recover the amount involved in corruption. Merely by sending the person to jail does not matter and what is relevant is the money should be recovered from the person.
He desired for the enforcement ofa strong Jan Lokpal Bill and the autonomy should be vested with it. It should be free from any kind of governmental control only then the government can create a corruption-free India. But the government says it does not want such a strict legislation. He said that in present there is a nexus between people's representatives and staff involved in corruption and hence their demand is to bring all offices under Lokpal. And urged the desire to probe corruption complaints. At the state level, the government should not meddle with the institution of Lokayukta. And stated that they are not seeking to run a parallel government.
The social activist suggested that boards should be put up outside offices to indicate office's social responsibility. He said that 75 per cent of peoples money collected by the government is spent on establishment costs. And in the remaining 25 per cent, there is 15 per cent of corruption.
News Reported by AR
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