No serious efforts taken to curb corruption, says JP

Lok Satta Party founder-president Jayaprakash Narayan said that the Central and the State governments were only enacting dramas in the name of anti-corruption struggle without taking steps for multi-pronged institutional mechanisms to curb corruption.

Interacting with the Lok Satta Party leaders on the occasion of International Anti-Corruption Day here on Wednesday, Dr. Narayan said that Anti-Corruption Bureau, Collectorates and municipal corporations which should have kept in place mechanisms to prevent corruption were confined to observing perfunctory anti-corruption weeks. It was thanks to the efforts of Lok Satta in 1998 in creating awareness about irregularities in weights and measures in petrol bunks, 85 per cent of irregularities in weighing measurements were rectified. As a result, people all these years had benefited to the tune of Rs. 2 lakh crore, he said.

Subsequently LSP had strived for Right to Information Act, creation of Lokpal, Lokayukta and Ombudsman setup from Delhi to district level, income tax exemptions on donations to political parties, local courts Act, Judicial Commission for appointment of High Court Judges, open auction for allocation of coal, iron and other natural resources after 2G spectrum case irregularities were exposed, Citizen Services Guarantee Act, local body empowerment, allotment of per capita funds, etc., he said.

Courtesy: The Hindu