Hyderabad, April 07: Lok Satta Party President N Jayaprakash Narayan today extended his support to social activist Anna Hazare”s crusade against corruption.
The bureaucrat-turned-politician, however, appealed to Hazare to call off his indefinite fast, undertaken in Delhi demanding adoption of a People”s Lok Pal Bill, and wanted the Government to give a categorical assurance that it would consult all stakeholders before it finalised the Bill.
He said Lok Satta and Foundation for Democratic Reforms, in association with Transparency International and Centre for Media Studies, will organise a round-table conference in New Delhi in the third week of April to hammer out a consensus on the creation of a powerful and independent Lok Pal at the national level and Lok Ayuktas in states.
At a media conference here, Narayan said about 20 eminent people of impeccable integrity drawn from jurists, judiciary and retired officials of the Vigilance Commission and the Election Commission would discuss the preliminary Lok Pal Bill drafted by officials.
He pointed out that the proposed Lok Pal Bill was flawed in many respects.
“As per the proposed Bill, the Lok Pal cannot initiate any inquiry on his own and can take up only cases referred to him by competent authorities. Instances of corruption dating back to five years become time-barred.
The Lok Pal”s role is limited to giving a report on his findings because he is not empowered to take any action. Such a toothless Lok Pal at the national level would not help mitigate corruption,” he said.
——–PTI