Govt committed to strong Lokpal Act: PM

New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today made it clear that the government was committed to the enactment of a Lokpal Act providing for a strong, effective and quick institutional arrangement for tackling corruption in high places.
In his opening remarks at the all-party meeting on Draft Lokpal Bill, the Prime Minister expressed government’s commitment to bringing the bill before Parliament in the coming Monsoon Session.
“I must make it clear at the outset that we, in government, are committed to the enactment of a Lokpal Act, which provides for a strong, effective and quick institutional arrangement for tackling corruption in high places. We are also committed to bringing the bill before Parliament in the coming Monsoon Session,” the Prime Minister said.
However, it was important that such an institutional arrangement enjoyed the support of as large a section of people as possible and that there was the widest possible consensus regarding the bill, he said.
“…the Constitution provides for an intricate system of checks and balances and the new institution of Lokpal had to find an appropriate place in that matrix,” he added.
Admitting that corruption was a major issue, he said there were legal and institutional arrangements in place to tackle the scourge.
However, there was a feeling that the institutional arrangements in place were not strong enough to ensure that the guilty, especially those occupying high positions, were brought to book swiftly and given deterrent punishment.
He said any proposed arrangement to curb corruption had to be for the larger good of the society and the country. The institution of the Lokpal had to work in harmony with other institutions and laws and function within the framework of the basic structure of the Constitution.
It had to add to and not detract from the legitimate role and authority of other institutions in the country’s democratic structure, he said.