Bill will set up a Lokpal with no effective powers,says Karat

Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Prakash Karat said on Friday that the Lokpal Bill that has been introduced in the Parliament will set up a very weak Lokapal. He said that the bill will set up a very weak Lokpal and added that it will exclude from its ambit the office of Prime Minister, empowered the government in its removal and included government officials in the appointment of the Lokpal.
Mr. Karat emphasized that the overall policy framework under the neo-liberal regime itself creates and sustains corruption at the highest level. The problems of corruption, price rise, unemployment, farmer's distress, land grab and illegal mining are being created today because the ruling class and government have adopted neo-liberal policies and transfer of resources from the poor to the rich.
He also said that the government was refusing to act and change the policies on fuel prices, futures trading and the public distribution system that are essential in containing the escalation in prices of commodities.
He also pointed out that the, Bharatiya Janata Party has been protesting against the government's failure to curb price rise, voted with the Congress on a resolution on price rise.
Only the Left and some secular parties said that they were against the draft and demanded a roll back on the increase of fuel prices, which has only burdened the people.
Mr. Karat said the country had witnessed two decades of liberalization, which had brought growth to a narrow stratum of society.
He said that the government was facilitating the loot and plunder and the inequalities have grown.
He said the imprisonment of the former Union Telecom Minister A Raja, top bureaucrats and executives of corporations was only the tip of the iceberg.
Reported by
      AR

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