Can Lokpal bill end criminality and corruption?
There is lots of corruption in the Parliament and public life. There is an urgent need to cleanse politics by swiftly passing into law proposed amendments to the Representation of the People Act, 1951.
This step needs to be taken mainly to debar criminals from entering politics. The amendments would disqualify any candidate with serious criminal charges - terrorism, murder, sexual assault, kidnapping etc - from contesting elections. The law can be further improved by adding big-ticket corruption to the list of serious crimes.
In a democracy the quality of governance is directly proportional to the quality of legislators. Unfortunately, over the years it has been found that an unholy criminal-politician nexus exists. There are many MPs in the current Lok Sabha who have serious criminal charges pending against them. The situation is even worse in state assemblies. Not only does this blemish the stature and sanctity of our legislatures, it also undermines the rule of law. The toxic mix of political power and criminality has spawned a mafia culture responsible for most governance-related ills. Almost all political parties are found to be using criminal elements to meet their political ends.
In such a scenario, those with genuine intentions of working for ordinary citizens are hard-pressed to join politics. The plethora of scams making headlines is only a natural manifestation of a system thoroughly infected by unscrupulous people in power. Unless remedied, the malaise threatens the very fabric of our democracy. Corruption is a monster that needs to be tackled by making perfect strategies. Can a strong Lokpal help to drive away corruption? Only time will tell as to whether this bill will succeed in arresting criminality and corruption in the system.
There is lots of corruption in the Parliament and public life. There is an urgent need to cleanse politics by swiftly passing into law proposed amendments to the Representation of the People Act, 1951.
This step needs to be taken mainly to debar criminals from entering politics. The amendments would disqualify any candidate with serious criminal charges - terrorism, murder, sexual assault, kidnapping etc - from contesting elections. The law can be further improved by adding big-ticket corruption to the list of serious crimes.
In a democracy the quality of governance is directly proportional to the quality of legislators. Unfortunately, over the years it has been found that an unholy criminal-politician nexus exists. There are many MPs in the current Lok Sabha who have serious criminal charges pending against them. The situation is even worse in state assemblies. Not only does this blemish the stature and sanctity of our legislatures, it also undermines the rule of law. The toxic mix of political power and criminality has spawned a mafia culture responsible for most governance-related ills. Almost all political parties are found to be using criminal elements to meet their political ends.
In such a scenario, those with genuine intentions of working for ordinary citizens are hard-pressed to join politics. The plethora of scams making headlines is only a natural manifestation of a system thoroughly infected by unscrupulous people in power. Unless remedied, the malaise threatens the very fabric of our democracy. Corruption is a monster that needs to be tackled by making perfect strategies. Can a strong Lokpal help to drive away corruption? Only time will tell as to whether this bill will succeed in arresting criminality and corruption in the system.
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