Revised Lokpal Bill is likely next week
Amartya Sen at Parliament House on Thursday. — PTI
As the government began putting final touches to the Lokpal Bill before tabling it in Parliament next week, it got some unexpected support: Nobel-winning economist Amartya Sen said in New Delhi Thursday that “people on the street” could not tackle corruption properly.
In a tacit attack on Team Anna, Prof. Sen said: “I don’t personally think... people on the street could, in a very good way, deal with corruption.” He was speaking at the inauguration of the UN-ESCAP sub-regional office after “talking for about an hour with my old friend Manmohan Singh, the Prime Minister”.
“I am not a believer it could be done in the way exemplary punishment is meted out by panchayats to deal with the guy who drinks. We have to be careful about this,” Prof. Sen said.
The amended bill, incorporating suggestions from Wednesday’s all-party meeting, might be taken up at a Cabinet meeting Sunday after the Prime Minister returns from Russia. The Cabinet will also discuss the Food Security Bill, deferred earlier due to objections by Trinamul chief Mamata Banerjee and the NCP’s Sharad Pawar.
Sunday’s Cabinet will also consider the possibility of extending the Winter Session, due to end on December 22, to pass the Lokpal Bill. The Congress has issued a whip to its members to be present for four days — Monday to Thursday.
There are still differing views on the inclusion of the CBI and the lower bureaucracy within the Lokpal’s ambit. CBI director A.P. Singh met the PM on Wednesday to insist that the agency keep its full autonomy.
The government has set up a four-member ministerial group — Pranab Mukherjee, P. Chidam-baram, Salman Khurshid and PMO minister of state V. Narayanasamy — to study the standing committee’s recommendations and prepare revisions.
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