With advance apologies to Anna Hazare’s supporters..

From Anna Hazare’s letter to PM



NAC sub-committee has discussed Jan Lokpal Bill. But what does that actually mean? Will the government accept the recommendations of NAC sub-committee? So far, UPA II has shown complete contempt for even the most innocuous issues raised by NAC.

What is NAC?

The National Advisory Council of India is an advisory body set up to monitor the implementation of the UPA government’s manifesto, the Common Minimum Programme(CMP). It is a brainchild of Congress party president, Sonia Gandhi. It is also informally called as UPA’s Planning Commission for social agenda. On 23 March 2006, Sonia gandhi had resigned from the post of chairmanship of the NAC after Office of profit controversy. On 29 March 2010, she was back as the chairperson of NAC.

My challenge to Anna Hazare – Sandhya Jain

Dear friends

Now that Anna Hazare has revealed that he is truly batting for Sonia Gandhi and the unelected NAC to be the Uber Government of India, I have just three challenges to him and his team to show that they are serious about the issue of corruption that they are championing (or so they claim):-

1] Now that he is in Delhi and fasting before the nation, indeed the world – will he kindly demand on enquiry into the rising financial profile and corporate deals of Mr Robert Vadra, who is in the news for this mysterious ascent?

2] Will he similarly make a test case for the rise and rise of financial acumen of Mrs Supriya Sule and her marital family?

3] Will Anna himself submit an audit about his public achievements? Here I would like to tell those who don’t know that Anna Hazare owes his fame to the work he did in rainwater harvesting in his village, Ralegaon Sidhi, Ahmednagar district, Maharashtra. He was then massively built up by the nascent NGO industry which has since successfully latched on to Govt Funds for everything, though under development remains the name of the game…

The state govt then gave massive funds to take the campaign ahead – and some villages did benefit by sincerely doing their own work in this regard. But what about Anna and his direct work – how many villages did he take up and what is the success rate? Has water shortage ended in rural Maharashtra? Why are there farmer suicides? These questions must be answered professionally and moral indignation does not work here, specifics do.

Warm regards

Sandhya Jain

Smt. Sandhya Jain’s Detailed Article
Anna Hazare: NGOs for Governance?
http://www.vijayvaani.com/FrmPublicDisplayArticle.aspx?id=1716

Three Questions from Nachiketa Tiwari

I really do not understand rationale underlying Anna Hazare’s fast unto death. Here are somequestions:

a)On what grounds should”civil society” leaders be involved in a panel of folks who would draft the Lokpal Bill. Many of these “grass-roots workers” are two-bit players, and get dubious funding thru NGO channels of all hues and colors. A classic case is MNREGA scheme, conceived by Jean Dreze, and thru this scheme, tens of thousands of crores of rupees is being dumped into coffers of corrupt folks. And the NAC is trying to further the depth and penetration of this scheme, even though there is hard data that corruption is rampant in the implementation of this scheme. Any guesses, as to why this push for MNREGA.

b) While it is OK to argue for the Lokpal bill (or argue against it), is there any shred of evidence that implementation of such a bill even in the most ideal situation will stem corruption. At the state level, we have the institution of Lokayukta. Maharashtra was perhaps the 1st state to implement this provision (1972!!). The Lokayukta is appointed by Governor after receiving inputs from High Court CJ, and Opposition leader. He has the right to inquire into the conduct of all ministers (sans CM). Typically, we have retiredjusticesof High Courts sitting in this position. However, there is little data to suggest that corruption index in Mah. is less than in other states. Similarly, the Delhi state appointed a Lokayukta in 1995. However, the CWG scam involved mega mis-appropriation of money, and the “tainted’ people in this aspect hail from Mah. and Delhi.

c) Somehow I have a feeling that the “fast unto death” act of Anna is just being used to deflect focus from ongoing exposure of scams (which emerge on a daily basis). Imagine a scenario, where the govt., post some cajoling and “pressures” yields to the demand of the “fasters”, and constitutes a panel of “experts” who end up drafting a half-ass Lokpal Bill. And in the scheme of things, the focus on current mega scandals, which are perhaps of the same order of magnitude as India’s economy, gets lost. Who is the winner in this game?

Nachiketa Tiwari

Here is who gets to select the Lokpal members.

    5. A selection committee consisting of the following shall be set up:

    a. The Chairpersons of both Houses of Parliament
    b. Two senior most judges of Supreme Court
    c. Two senior most Chief Justices of High Courts.
    d. All Nobel Laureates of Indian Origin
    e. Chairperson of National Human Rights Commission
    f.Last two Magsaysay Award winners of Indian origin
    g. Comptroller and Auditor General of India
    h. Chief Election Commissioner
    i.Bharat Ratna Award winners
    j. After the first set of selection process, the outgoing members and Chairperson of
    Lokpal.

The adhoc ness of this list will immediately lead to its dilution. Why on earth should Nobel Prize Winners of Indian origin , who are citizens of other countries get to decide the Lokpal members ? What is great about the “last two” Magasaysay award winners (Kejriwal) ? Why not last ten ? Why not Padmasri Winners ?

Read Detailed Report
Jan Lok Pal – Caveat Emptor
http://realitycheck.wordpress.com/2011/04/06/jan-lok-pal-caveat-emptor/

Role of Swami Agnivesh
So far Swamy Agnivesh had only associated with Antinationals ranging from Missionary Mafia to Maoists to Terrorist Right Watch groups to Anti Indian Jhollawalla Groups. His association with this movement itself is enough to raise suspicion about the motives of the group.

Move to Undermine Swami Ramdev’s Anti Corruption Movement ?
Why there was no media hype for Swami Ramdev’s and Dr Subrahmanyam Swamy’s struggle against corrupted. Is this current furore to dilute the war against corruption which haven’t scared to question the Sonia Maino’s hand in looting public wealth and to mislead the probe against blackmoney stashed abroad.   

HK’s Stand
HK is not against any Anti Corruption movement , provided their intentions are honest. We should keep vigil before jumping into the fray – As we have been taken for a ride so far by many , we shouldn’t let it repeat. Apologies in advance to all HK readers who support the movement whole heartedly and wish all these concerns may prove to be wrong and let the cancerous corruption rooted from bottom to higher echelons of the soceity be wiped away. Unless and untill the Soceity changes – No Bills or legislation will help us to root out this evil

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