The India Against Corruption (IAC) campaign was started by the civil rights crusader, social reformer and Gandhian, Anna Hazare, and its main focus was to stress the need to constitute a Jan Lokpal that would probe corruption charges against all sections of society, including bureaucrats and politicians.
The campaign began with a satyagraha by Anna Hazare, and an appeal for support from the masses, with as many as six crore messages from all quarters of the country promising support to the Gandhian and the movement. The most significant aspect of IAC was that it had no political overtones, and Anna even refused to share the stage with politicians. The Jan Lokpal bill would also be referred to as the Citizen’s Ombudsman Bill and it would be an improvement on the existing Lokpal and Lokayukta.
The ideal bill
The citizens’ body led by Hazare drew up the bill in a proper format and the draft was prepared by former Lokayukta of Karnataka Justice Santosh Hegde, senior Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Bhushan, and RTI (Right to Information) activist Arvind Kejriwal. As per its provisions, the Jan Lokpal would be vested with the powers to probe politicians and bureaucrats without having to get any approval from the government. The office of the Prime Minister (PM) and the PM himself too was to come within the ambit of the Jan Lokpal. The office of the Jan Lokpal would be supervised by the Cabinet Secretary and the Election Commissioner of India. It would be completely independent of the government and free from ministerial interference in its investigations.
Anna Hazare was insistent that a joint committee should be formed to discuss the bill and it should have representatives from the government and civil society, and the aim would be to draft tougher anti-corruption legislation. The then Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh rejected the proposal, but later as the protests picked up steam, the government relented and a committee was constituted with the originator of the first Lok Pal bill, Supreme Court lawyer Shanti Bhushan as a Co-Chairman, Anna Hazare, Prashant Bhushan, Supreme Court lawyer and activist, Justice Santosh Hegde, former Lokayukta, Karnataka and Arvind Kejriwal representing civil society. Differences cropped up over a few contentious issues and the government steadfastly refused to accept in toto all the suggestions put forth by Anna and his team.
The dilution called ‘Jokepal’!
Meanwhile, the central government went ahead with the formation of a Lokpal, and its main objectives were to deter corruption, compensate citizens and redress their grievances, and protect whistleblowers. The government did consider the inputs provided by ordinary citizens through activist driven non-government public consultation. The bill as passed in both the Houses of Parliament came in for ridicule by Team Anna, an offshoot of IAC which had by then been disbanded by Anna Hazare, which denounced it and labeled it as ‘Jokepal’. The IAC even went a step ahead and conducted a national survey which unearthed the fact that as many as 85% of those responding to the questionnaire, opposed the bill passed by the government.
Meanwhile, the IAC movement lost steam, though it still had mass support, as some followers of Anna Hazare who had until then offered him unstinted support felt that IAC had had little practical success, and it would be better to take on a political avatar utilising the groundswell of support that the movement had garnered. Anna however disapproved of the idea and a faction led by Arvind Kejriwal broke ranks with Anna and formed a political outfit, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) which stormed to power in Delhi. Kejriwal had intended to pass the Jan Lokpal bill in the Delhi assembly in his first stint itself, but his abrupt resignation aborted the plans. Anna had launched his Team Anna, but later settled for a new outfit named ‘Jan tantra morcha’. With time, some of the public support dissipated. While the UPA (United Progressive Alliance) government in its second term in office passed the Lokpal Bill, Anna Hazare recently announced that he would be agitating for the substitution of this bill with the Jan Lokpal bill.
A toothless tiger
The government’s Lokpal has been branded as toothless as it has no power to initiate suo moto action, and cannot receive complaints from the public either. It could at best function as an advisory body that is bound to forward its reports to the concerned authority for further action. In short, it has no police powers. The Jan Lokpal as envisaged had powers to register FIRs (First Information Report), proceed with the investigations and also launch prosecution after completing its probes, and could even proceed against the Prime Minister. It could also investigate bureaucrats and government officers, and the entire vigilance machinery as existing would be merged into it, and full protection would be provided to whistleblowers.
In addition, the Jan Lokpal was to be empowered to impose penalties or to take matters to court, and the penalties would include removal from service, imprisonment for a minimum of one year or for life, recovery of all assets from those who have benefited from corruption, fines for filing frivolous complaints, and so on. As far as NGOs were concerned the Jan Lokpal was in favour of excluding them from its ambit as they were already involved in activities that included fighting corruption. The government’s bill was not inclined to exclude NGOs.
A people’s movement
The main feature of the India Against Corruption movement was its transformation into a national movement in a short period of time. Galvanised by the avowed determination of its spearheads, notably Anna Hazare, the highly decorated police officer Kiran Bedi, and the stalwart RTI activist Arvind Kejriwal to root out corruption from the country, civil society responded splendidly, and the reverberations of the movement were felt in most of the major cities in the country. The resilience displayed by the leaders, especially Anna Hazare, who was ready to risk his fragile health by going on repeated fasts, too spurred the citizens to raise their voices in unison for a noble cause. The overwhelming response also made it abundantly clear that corruption at all levels had turned into a hydra-headed monster, and had begun to take a toll on the lives of people belonging to all classes of society.
However, the euphoria was short lived when it became evident that the government of the day would not budge from its stand, and that there was not even a ghost of a chance of the Jan Lokpal bill as enunciated by civil society replacing the Lok Pal bill, which by then had already become law. So, in the final analysis it would be a fair assessment to say that the struggle against corruption, initiated by India Against Corruption and later by Team Anna had been futile, and though the government had implemented some of the suggestions, it has had the final say and has exercised its right to reject a few recommendations which it obviously felt cut too close to the bone.
The BJP, the main constituent of the present NDA (National Democratic Alliance) government at the centre had thrown its weight behind Anna Hazare when it was in the opposition, but now that the shoe is on the other foot, it remains to be seen whether the renewed efforts of Anna Hazare to replace Lok Pal with Jan Lok Pal will bear any fruit. With one of Anna’s trusted lieutenants Arvind Kejriwal having become a full-fledged politician, and with his party seeking a pan-India presence, his concentration on Jan Lokpal is bound to wane. Kiran Bedi too plunged into politics by joining the BJP, and was declared the party’s CM (Chief Minister) candidate for Delhi, came a cropper, and has now become the Governor of the Union Territory of Puducherry. Prashant Bhushan, whose zeal for Jan Lokpal remains undiminished, is ploughing a lonely furrow, having been sacked from AAP. He, however, remains an ardent anti-corruption crusader.
The success of IAC and those who championed the cause has however to be measured in terms of their ability to raise the level of civic consciousness and to draw the attention of the people at large to a scourge called corruption, that has to be tackled on a war footing. The movement also emphasised how corruption signifies an erosion of social values and drew significant attention to the need for accountability at all levels.