[Mr. Gandhi] Madam Speaker, I have been deeply distressed at the developments of the last few days. Many aspects of the situation have caused me anguish.
[Response] Sir To-Be-PM, I am not at all distressed looking at the ways Government of India is trying to resolve issue of corruption since last 12 days. No aspect of situation causes me distress… it just leaves me in shambles.
[Mr. Gandhi] We are all aware that corruption is pervasive. It operates at every level. The poor may carry its greatest burden but it is an affliction that every Indian is desperate to be rid off. Fighting corruption is as integral to eliminating poverty as is Mahatma Gandhi NREGA or the Land Acquisition Bill. Yet it is equally imperative to the growth and development of our nation.
[Response] We were definitely aware that corruption is pervasive and feel deeply revered to know that even Indian government knows the nuances and prevalence of corruption at every level in their own house. It is good to know that you have given ‘fight for corruption’ similar priority as Mahatma Gandhi’s NREGA or land acquisition bill and also acknowledged that it is imperative to growth and development of nation. I know my generation would not be able to see the action which this divine knowledge brings but I will be happy to see the same at least on paper.
[Mr. Gandhi ] Madam Speaker, we cannot wish away corruption by the mere desire to see it removed from our lives. This requires a comprehensive framework of action and a concerted political program supported by all levels of the state from the highest to the lowest. Most importantly, it requires firm political will
[Response] Sir to-be-PM, we agree that corruption cannot be whiffed away by mere desire to see it removed but wish you could comprehend that there has to be visible desire from your group of ministers to build confidence in people. We would await the comprehensive framework of action which we think you are working on, burning the midnight oil and also the political will. Though we fail to understand what comes first a political will, a desire or comprehensive framework but we are ready to forgo this discussion considering it as Chicken and egg story. What we are interested is in a healthy chicken and good flow of eggs.
[Mr. Gandhi ] Madam Speaker, in the past few years I have travelled the length and breadth of our country. I have met scores of countrymen, rich and poor, old and young, privileged and disempowered who have expressed their disillusionment to me. In the last few months, Annaji has helped the people to articulate this same sentiment. I thank him for that. I believe that the real question before us as representatives of the people of India today is whether we are prepared to take the battle against corruption head on? It is not a matter of how the present impasse will resolve, it is a much greater battle. There are no simple solutions. To eradicate corruption demands a far deeper engagement and sustained commitment from each one of us.
[Response] Sir to-be-PM, we are aware that you have been travelling length and breadth of country over last few years starting from Darbhanga, Bihar to Jodhpur of Rajasthan and also Pune of Maharashtra to Delhi spending Crores of tax payers hard earned money. We submissively accept your thanks for sponsorship provided by us.
[Mr. Gandhi] Witnessing the events of the last few days it would appear that the enactment of a single Bill will usher in a corruption-free society. I have serious doubts about this belief.An effective Lok Pal law is only one element in the legal framework to combat corruption. The Lok Pal institution alone cannot be a substitute for a comprehensive anti-corruption code. A set of effective laws is required. Laws that address the following critical issues are necessary to stand alongside the Lok Pal initiative:
(1) government funding of elections and political parties,
(2) transparency in public procurement,
(3) proper regulation of sectors that fuel corruption like land and
mining,
(4) grievance redress mechanisms in public service delivery of old
age pensions and ration cards; and
(5) continued tax reforms to end tax evasion.
We owe it to the people of this country to work together across party lines to ensure that Parliament functions at its optimum capacity and delivers these laws in a just and time bound manner.
[Respone] Your doubts towards just Lokpal bill being able to eradicate corruption from India are very valid and honest. What would ensure eradication is effective implementation of same. We definitely need set of laws addressing the critical issues as highlighting by your good self which I feel were not considered as issues by Government of India till Anna would help prove them. Decades have passed with Lokpal bill gathering dust somewhere lying in house of gods and their ministers, but was somehow missed as the dust layer was significant enough for members to notice it. But we cannot blame you for the decades which have gone by because you have been here just for one or rather less.
[Mr. Gandhi]We speak of a statutory Lok Pal but our discussions cease at the point of its accountability to the people and the risk that it might itself become corrupt. Madam Speaker, why not elevate the
debate and fortify the Lok Pal by making it a Constitutional body accountable to Parliament like the Election Commission of India? I feel the time has come for us to seriously consider this idea.
Madam Speaker, laws and institutions are not enough. A representative, inclusive and accessible democracy is central to fighting corruption.
[Response] You have really elevated your image in front of each one of us by requesting speaker of house to elevate this debate and bringing in request to make lokpal a constitutional body answerable to parliament as election commission. I would like to take you back to the times when election commission was a spineless body working as a slave of gods and their ministers. It was only TN Sheshan who could bring dignity and respect to this organization but I am still unaware how fairly things are working in this constitutional body. I don’t say that I have my doubts on this body but what I am not able to digest is that how a tiger decides where his kill was just or not but at the same time I know Tiger is the king and has full right to do so.
[Mr. Gandhi]Individuals have brought our country great gains. They have galvanized people in the cause of freedom and development. However, individual dictates, no matter how well intentioned, must not weaken the democratic process. This process is often lengthy and lumbering. But it is so in order to be inclusive and fair. It provides a representative and transparent platform where ideas are translated into laws. A tactical incursion, divorced from the machinery of an elected Government that seeks to undo the checks and balances created to protect the supremacy of Parliament sets a dangerous precedent for a democracy.
[Respone] Individual who are not in power have really bought our country great gains and the ones in power are reaping the benefits of same. It is not the dictatorship of individuals which is killing the ‘so called’ democracy of India but I feel this fight is to regain the lost democracy. The democracy which does not give right to people to voice their concern, right to peaceful protest needs to change its name. Indian democracy is true example of ‘aristocratic democracy’ rather than a sovereign, because only Mr. Gandhi can protest in UP and no ‘Anna Hazare’ will be given permission to protest.
[Mr. Gandhi]Today the proposed law is against corruption. Tomorrow the target may be something less universally heralded. It may attack the plurality of our society and democracy.India’s biggest achievement is our democratic system. It is the life force of our nation. I believe we need more democracy within our political parties. I believe in Government funding of our political parties. I believe in empowering our youth; in opening the doors of our closed political system; in bringing fresh blood into politics and into this House. I believe in moving our democracy deeper and deeper into our villages and our cities.
[Response] Today the fight is against corruption and people of India have come as one force and tomorrow if the fight is against democracy the people are intelligent enough to not join such cause. May I be pardoned to say that this thought requires a qualification in people behavior so I leave you the obligation. Please understand that today India stands with Anna because corruption has gone as deep as last blood cell in their bodies. This force will join hand again only if there is a cause which is killing the sovereign democracy of country and not something which disturbs the society or disrespects the law.
We respect your beliefs for bringing in new blood to house of god and their ministers, but how do we ensure that we give the royal blood genes to people who are there in rural India and the small towns of India because as far as we have known there is a scanning system at entrance of these houses which only allows the royal blood to pass in. Also, it becomes difficult to ensure that people sitting in house would help eradicate corruption or become one more seat grabber.
[Mr. Gandhi] I know my faith in our democracy, is shared by members of this House. I know that regardless of their political affiliation, many of my colleagues work tirelessly to realize the ideals upon which our nation was built. The pursuit of truth is the greatest of those ideals. It won us our freedom. It gave us our democracy. Let us commit ourselves to truth and probity in public life. We owe it to the people of India.
[Response] We appreciate and applaud the sharing ways of our current seat grabbers in house of god and ministers, be it sharing of views or gains of corrupt practices. This sharing behavior needs to be probed by public of India and they have full right to do it to ensure that we uphold the ideals on which this nation was build and we set the stage right for generation to come, if not for us. What we need from you is action rather than rhetoric which we have been always subjected to. Please rise to the occasion to act rather than speak.