It was 2011 and one of my friends Ankit told me that Mahatma Gandhi has once again taken the command of India and this time his fight is against corruption not independence. I was told he was leading a movement called “India Against Corruption.”
I was amazed at how Gandhiji had taken birth again. I pondered hard over this but didn’t reach a conclusion.
After a few hours, I got to know that it was none other than Anna Hazare, an audacious man with an iron will. He was compared to Gandhiji as he used hunger strike as his protest technique. Moreover, their attire and attitude were also similar.
He fought a ceaseless battle against the government for the implementation of Lokpal in order to make India corruption-free. As a result, he struck a deal with the Congress government for the same. But it remained on paper for almost 6 years. When the NDA government, led by the BJP came to power, there was still a lackadaisical approach. The reason for this, as quoted by the BJP was a non-availability of a leader of opposition. None of the parties including Congress had required numbers, i.e. 10% of the total members of house, to become members of opposition.
However, Lokpal consists of one chairperson with a maximum of 8 persons of which 50% shall be from judiciary. The 50% of Lokpal shall come from the SC/ST/OBC communities, other minority groups and women. The selection of chairperson and members of the Lokpal will be done by the selection committee which consists of the Prime Minister, the speaker of the Lok Sabha, the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha and the Chief Justice of India or a sitting Supreme Court judge and eminent jurist nominated by the President.
Now, the NDA government has suddenly appointed a retired judge of the Supreme Court, Pinaki Chandra Ghose, as the first chairperson of Lokpal in India. The appointment which has taken place now should have happened 5 years ago. The leader of opposition is as missing as they were 5 years ago. This proves that it is nothing but an election gimmick by the BJP to garner votes in the coming elections.
In any case, this step of the government is commendable as it is a stride towards corruption-free India. Better late than never!