People's Democracy

For an Effective Lokpal:

Government has to Respond

Prakash Karat

THE hunger strike launched by Anna Hazare in Delhi has led to an outpouring of support from all over the country. The agitation for a Jan Lokpal Bill has found support predominantly from the urban middle classes and a substantial section of youth belonging to this strata. There is no doubt that since the first hunger strike launched by Anna Hazare in April, the anti-corruption movement has gained momentum.

The attitude of the UPA government and its failure to tackle corruption has fuelled widespread anger. Firstly, the UPA government is seen as complicit in corruption. This has been the most corrupt government in the history of independent India. The paradox of a “clean prime minister” heading such a government has sunk into the consciousness of the urban middle classes.  This is the very constituency which had been singing the praises of Manmohan Singh – a reformer who was clean and whose integrity was unquestioned. 

The manner in which the ministers in the government defended the corrupt practices indulged in, in the 2G spectrum allocation, stating that there was zero loss of revenue for the government confirmed the fears of many that this government steeped in corruption cannot take any meaningful action.  In all the cases – whether it be the 2G or the Commonwealth Games – it has been agencies external to the government – the Supreme Court, or, the CAG which spurred the CBI into action to investigate and to prosecute the guilty.

The problem has been compounded by the government introducing a Lokpal Bill which seeks to carry on with the earlier arrangement of the vigilance and investigation agencies. The prime minister is excluded from the purview of the Lokpal. The method of appointment of the Lokpal will not make it an independent authority. The Lokpal set up by this Bill would be ineffective and unable to independently act against the higher echelons in the government, or, the big business-ruling politician-bureaucratic nexus. 

Secondly, the Congress party leadership has been put in the dock for the manner in which Anna Hazare and his colleagues were arrested on the morning of August 16 before they began the hunger strike. The symbolism of a corrupt government putting an anti-corruption crusader in Tihar Jail was not lost on the people. The brazen attack on the democratic rights of citizens to protest peacefully isolated the government among the people and inside parliament.  The ruling party decries the Hazare-led movement as an attack on parliament and democratic institutions. They claimed that since the government has introduced a Bill in parliament, any agitation against it is an attack on parliament. This is specious reasoning. Political parties and citizen’s organisations have the right to oppose and agitate against any Bill introduced in parliament.  The Left parties and trade unions have opposed many Bills which are anti-working class and organised protest actions and struggles against them. Strikes have taken place against proposed legislation which seeks to liberalise the financial sector – the insurance, banks etc.

Even the Congress party opposed the Prevention of Terrorism (POTA) Bill which was introduced in parliament in 2002 by the BJP-led government. Subsequently it continued to oppose it even after it was enacted as a law and demanded its withdrawal.

FOUNTAINHEAD

OF CORRUPTION

Corruption has become a major issue and people are increasingly becoming conscious and determined to fight it.  This is welcome.  But there is need for a proper understanding of what is the cause for this rampant corruption which has affected all spheres of public life. The CPI(M) has set out its understanding of the present malaise of corruption, the causes and the effects. 

In the last two decades, with the advent of liberalisation and the neo-liberal policies, high level corruption has become institutionalised.  The neo-liberal regime has led to an exponential rise in corruption.  Much of this corruption stems from the big business-ruling politician-bureaucratic nexus which has been established. We have seen how, in the seven years of the UPA government and the earlier six years of the NDA government, policy making has been suborned to serve the interests of big business; how privatisation and the loot of natural resources are facilitated by this nexus in operation; how the UPA government panders to big business – Indian and foreign – by putting in place policies and mechanisms to facilitate the transfer of resources like land, minerals, natural gas etc to business barons. The neo-liberal regime has affected the political system with big capital holding sway.  Increasingly, politics is being converted into a business and business is conducted through politics.

The fight against high level corruption, therefore, requires a multi-pronged effort. There has to be an effective Lokpal authority; there has to be electoral reforms to curb money power for politics; there has to be a separate mechanism to curb corruption in the higher judiciary through a separate legislation; there has to be firm measures to unearth black money and crack down on the persons who have stashed away illegal money abroad in tax havens.  Above all, the features of the neo-liberal regime, which encourage  accumulation of capital through corrupt means and facilitate the loot of natural resources by big business, should be ended.

The main source of support for the Hazare-led movement is the urban middle class. The better off amongst them were supporters of the liberalisation policies and reforms ushered in by the Manmohan Singh government. Now plagued with corruption, they want a messiah to get rid of corruption which constantly affects their daily life. They would like corruption to end while maintaining the economic regime which has conferred benefits on them. Hence they are  unable to see the organic link between the neo-liberal policies and the corruption that they have engendered.

The middle class propensity to be anti-political, to blame all politicians and to hold parliament in contempt are all on display in the Anna Hazare movement. The constant harping against all political parties and the setting of unilateral deadlines for parliament to act have raised apprehensions about their intent and commitment to democratic values. This has only detracted from the rightness of the cause and the popular support it has evoked.

There is legitimate anger against the plutocracy that has come to dominate the political system. But this plutocracy and the corrupt nexus cannot be fought by targeting political parties and concentrating fire only on the petty corruption that citizens face in their daily life.  Given the amorphous nature of the movement gathered around Anna Hazare, the rightwing forces, including the corporate media, seek to support and direct the movement  away from the focus on the fountainhead of corruption.  There is a constant masking of the real causes of corruption in society. In a recent poll conducted by the Centre for the Study of Development Societies published in The Hindu, to a question `who is the most corrupt’, among those surveyed, 32 per cent said government employees were the most corrupt; 43 per cent said elected representatives were the most corrupt; and only three per cent thought businessmen and industrialists were the most corrupt. This is the dominant opinion among the middle  classes.

In every major corruption scandal in the recent period, there was big business, or, corporates involved in the act of corrupting public servants – whether they are ministers, or, civil servants.  In the 2G spectrum case, the Commonwealth Games, the KG gas basin contract and so on – in each of these cases the hidden hand of big business exists. The government Lokpal Bill does not address this issue at all. The Jan Lokpal Bill at least has clauses providing for cancellation of contracts with business enterprises that are found to be illegally obtained. But the thrust of the anti-corruption movement, by and large, misses this main factor. 

BRING A

FRESH BILL

The CPI(M) and the Left will continue to campaign for a set of measures to combat corruption. Along with the Lokpal Bill, there has to be a judicial accountability legislation which will cover the setting up of both a National Judicial Commission for the appointment of judges and a body to enquire into charges of corruption.  The Left parties will continue the fight against the privatisation drive which seeks to handover public assets and resources  to big business. 

While a set of measures have to be taken to tackle the problem of corruption, at present, the issue is the setting up of a strong Lokpal authority.  The government Lokpal Bill has been rejected by large sections of the people; it is not acceptable to most of the opposition parties. In such a situation, the government should retract from its stand.

After eight days of the fast by Anna Hazare, the government has bowed down to public pressure and initiated talks with the representatives of the Hazare group. This is a welcome development. Hopefully this will lead to a fresh or modified bill which can pave the way for an effective Lokpal.