Dr. JP's counter to CM

Wanted: Special courts, not rhetoric

Hyderabad, Jan. 01,2008 - Chief Minister Dr. Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy is indulging in empty rhetoric when he called upon the Anti Corruption Bureau to stamp out corruption, said Lok Satta Party President Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan (Dr. JP) in a statement here today.

"If the Chief Minister is sincere about rooting out corruption, he should first focus on politicians who are the real and big culprits. Officials take a leaf out of politicians. Corruption cannot be eliminated either with provision of new buildings and gadgets to the Anti Corruption Bureau or with jugglery of words."

Said Dr. JP: "If the Chief Minister is serious, he should constitute special courts at the district level to go into political corruption. Under Section 3(1) of the Anti Corruption Act, the State Government can constitute special courts to go into corruption allegations against public servants. Public servants by definition include ministers, MLAs and other people's representatives. The Chief Minister should be prepared to go even into allegations of large-scale corruption levelled against him and the leader of the Opposition. The Lokayukta, ACB, Vigilance Commission and the Vigilance Enforcement should be merged and an autonomous authority be constituted to probe into allegations against even IAS and IPS officials without the Chief Minister's permission".

Dr. JP pointed out that the corrupt went scot-free because of ineffective investigation and as a result corruption has acquired monstrous proportions. The Anti Corruption Bureau could not touch the sharks of corruption as it bothered only about the small fry.

Dr. JP demanded that a law be enacted for confiscation of ill-gotten properties of public servants and award of stringent punishment to the guilty. Once such measures are initiated corruption incidence will go down.

Dr. JP called for effective implementation of the Right to Information Act to curb corruption as suggested by even the ACB. Instead, the Government harassed people who sought information under the Act. A case has been instituted against a Lok Satta activist, who sought information from the Mandal Revenue Officer of Ija in Mahbubnagar district. Citizens' charters should be brought out for every service and a penalty of Rs.100 a day be collected from officials who fail to provide information within the stipulated period.

Political will and honest policies alone can curb corruption but not empty rhetoric aimed at hoodwinking people, added Dr. JP.