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An FAQ - Anna's movement, democracy, revolution and blackmail
Written By silkboard - 21 August, 2011
Bangalore governance law and order Corruption Citizen Reports Jan Lokpal Bill
Bangalore is buzzing with it. Friends, colleagues at work, close Praja friends, everyone wants to either discuss it, or go visit Freedom Park. Watched a lot of TV, and read almost all major newspaper editorials last week. Disappointed with media, and a bit with intelligentsia as well for either trying to be artificially balanced, or for needlessly complicated and pointlessly intelligent arguments. Here is an attempt at an FAQ for the critics and supporters alike. Note: I am not associated with Team Anna. All attempts to speak on their behalf are purely personal, and based on what we have seen and heard through media recently.
1. Don't we have enough laws already to deal with this. How will a new one help?
May not help, but it will certainly NOT hurt. And who is saying that there should be no efforts made to make existing laws work? Who and What is stopping the government from moving forward on all related laws or proposals like police reforms, judicial reforms etc?
2. Isn't this a blackmail? and will set a bad precedent.
If it is then so be it. But it is not. Extraordinary situations require extraordinary methods. Not everyone can resort to such 'blackmail' for every issue. It is DAMN hard to get even 4 citizens of Bangalore to stand up with single voice on any single issue. When 40000 are doing it for a cause, it is an extraordinary situation.
3. Won't it set a bad precedent?
Why use the word bad? It would set a good precedent. No violence. Clear demands - make a Lokpal bill like this. And with some good homework - there is a clear 6-page document. And last, there is clean and popular support - this is not the Rs 250 a day crowd we see on other rallies and occasions.
4. But isn't Team Anna a closed unit, not open for input from others?
The draft they have put up was up on the Internet, and got 3000+ comments. Those who are complaining of not being heard haven't made any serious parallel efforts to create their drafts and push for it. There is no perfect way of carrying lakhs along on a written piece of document. This is close enough for me, solely because everyone knows what is beiung fought here.
5. Alright, but aren't they fixated with Jan Lokpal Bill like its the only thing under the sun?
Well not. Team Anna has talked of Electoral Reforms, Judicial reforms, Right to Service etc on many occasions. Just that some folks in the media want to portray them as a bunch of obdurate and arrogant people.
6. Allegation of funds misuse against Anna himself?
These sort of allegations should wake you up from your intelligentsia slumber (if you talk and think the same way as most media editorials - this is not the right way, why resort to blackmail etc etc). 2 lakh rupees "allegedly' used for his birthday, is that the best Congress I has got? Have the guts to publish your party funds first, have the guts to be democratic yourself first (as election commission guidelines say), prove that all personal expenses (Cricket match tickets, medical trip holidays etc etc) of your party bosses were paid from their personal accounts, and not government or party accounts. There is ABSOLUTELY no comparison between Team Anna and Congress-I as far as counts of skeletons in their closets is concerned.
7. But they say Anna misused those 2 Lakhs, isn't that bad?
I would still join him for a fast than join anyone else for a feast. I am impressed that the Rs 2 lakh thing was the worst the sarkaari witch hunt could dig out. Malice attempts of this sort should tell you that the Congress bosses have lots of things to hide from upcoming Lokpal.
8. But what about calling PM names, those 'not so nice' personal attack statements about other ministers?
These guys aren't used to leading such large crowds, they are overwhelmed. Most have never faced so many cameras and such large crowds before. Its natural to get emotional and get carried away at times. Our media excels in focusing on extraordinary statements and soundbytes these folks make. These are NOT your seasoned POLITICIANS, don't always expect them to say the politically right things.
9. Alright now, do you really think all those people joining the Anna movement have read or understood Jan Lokpal bill, and how it is 'better'?
May be they have not. But people understand that Anna has a strong bill to tackle corruption at top levels, where things seem to have been going on unchecked for long. That is enough. Everyone joining in doesn't have to take a reading comprehension test on the two draft bills. As long as they are not being forced to join in, as long as they are not being made to join in on false promises (this bill will get you jobs, this bill will help you get your khata), why would you have a problem?
10. So 2-5 lakh people joining a movement in a 1.2 billion strong country makes it a people's movement is it?
2-5 lakhs is Karan Thapar's number (hope you saw him play the Devil instead of Devil's advocate for a change on TV earlier today). 1.2 crore missed calls is perhaps the more real number. Without the money to bring in the Rs 250 a day people to these rallies, 5 lakh in person and 1.2 crore in spirit is no mean achievement. 70 crore were eligible to vote in in last LS elections, turnout was 59%. So 42 crore voted. Apppx 25% of votes were won by Cong-I. That gives you ~ 11 crores. 1.2 Crore is 10% of that number, sizable enough to be termed popular.
11. So if they have so much support, why don't they join politics themselves?
How do you know that they wont. They and perhaps some of you and me also probably will, but I am guessing only after we remove corruption that feeds all election campaigns. Only after some electoral reforms that will make fighting elections a level playing field. It right now is not.
12. Why not accept the best version from Parliament, and then press for amendments, basically go for a staged approach?
Why not finish the whole thing off through one big movement than do this again and again every 6 months? 2-3 months of struggle and stalemate, and we would all get a big first step completed. For an issue as monstrous as this, speed is the need. Stages will take ages.
13. Don't you think the UPA government is being targeted, a bit unfair?
It just so happens that they are in power. There is no directly Congress-I focused agenda in the campaign here. As far as UPA is concerned, you can say that this is the most corrupt government ever, or you could say that this is the first government that has put its ministers behind the bars. Make the call with your vote, Team Anna is not taking that choice away from you.
14. What's the way out for UPA government now?
They only know why their hands are tied. But who is stopping them from looking ahead and beyond Jan Lokpal? Just start on Electoral Reforms, put up an example for other parties by installing democracy inside Congress-I itself, take up Police Reforms, Judicial reforms, freedom for CBI, deep audit of PDS or NREGS like social programs to understand the pilferage etc etc etc. The list of things they can do to show they too are serious, in fact more serious and more knowledgeable than Team Anna is pretty long. Just start on it and see the crowds turn around. One can always steal the march.
15. That is fine, but the current stalemate?
Perhaps a sincere promise that you would put up a stronger bill up in the parliament? Or let multiple versions be debated? Or, explain why you are opposed to certain provisions in the Team Anna version? Will have to leave this FAQ item unanswered.
COMMENTS
Can't scale not good enough excuse
silkboard - 28 August, 2011 - 14:44
@mp, others - thanks for thought provoking comments.
Things have come to such a state that whatever the cost, it has to be paid to get an effective Lokpal institution going. Support from Lokayuktas, may be CBI reporting to it in some capacity, unprecedented transparency from the word go, having Greivence cells of all other departments report to Lokpal or Lokayukta - I am sure there would be ways to make this new institution effective.
Judiciary may have backlog, but it does work. Seems to me that Lokpals and Lokayuktas will only add to their load. So the Judicial Reforms bill would need a closer look.
We are not the experts in drafting laws, but are certainly the top guns in listing what we want from the law
- One or two "go to bodies" for all "denial of service" complaints. To me, denying any service is corruption, whether the guy on the other side of table asks for money or not. I am also denied due to caste, color, status, place of origin as well. Such denial too is "misuse of discretionary power for personal gain or bias", aka corruption.
- Need very clear rules for making the "denial of service" complaints. Through one huge lokpal bill, or through each state's Right to Service act, I don't care. But I need to know when to complain, for ex:, if I don't get my land registration papers or a written reply saying what documents are missing in x days, then I have the right to complain.
- Want full transparency on status of my complaint. I want to check and make sure that my complaint is taken as seriously as complaints from film stars and VIPs. I want to make sure that there is no VIP system or Tatkal process for processing these complaints.
- I would want the officers having most complaints against their name investigated suo-motu.
- Last, I want (besides higher and fair pays for government employees) asset listing of all administrative officers above certain level.
Think from "denial of service", and not corruption. I think this is the line some people in Team Anna have taken, that's why the focus on "citizen's charter'. Why the focus on "denial of service"? Because:
- How would you make an allegation of corruption without it actually happening. How would you prove that the officer asked for a bribe? By carrying voice recorders or hidden cameras all the time?
- What if I misuse the bias against government to "target" some officers?
- Only clean way is "denial of service". I don't want the hassles of trips to Lokpal or Lokayukta courts after I make the complaint. All I should need to give LP/LA etc is 1) my "request" or "file" 2) proof of date of submission, that's it.
And BTW, the backlog may be huge to begin with, but once the fear sets in, it should reduce dramatically.
Now, saying that all this is impractical is not good enough. Dear lawmakers, just figure how this will work. Raise my tax rates by 5% if you need to for creating new departments. 5% extra white-money tax will remove the 10-15% corruption-tax that I pay to get almost anything done. So net-net, I stand to gain.
Mani1972 - 22 October, 2011 - 12:43
Dear SB and Others,
After being with PRAJA for more than 3 years, I feel that I can safely express my personal opinion, without being misquoted or misunderstood!
If we are looking for changing the system, then, what team Anna did was just a push. Nobody knows if the direction is the right. I also have my doubts.
Because, one has to identify the rot to remove it. Corrupt politicians or officers are the symptom, not the cause. What enables them to be corrupt? Why does the system enables 60% be corrupt? Going by the mathematics, and 'bell curve', are we a corrupt nation?
It needs much more than a strong Lokpal to tackle the menace of corruption. Superman can't tackle corruption. No individual can. But, information and awarness can. Why are we not putting our time and energy into this sufficiently? It may take 100 walks to the office, but then, thats what will shake the foundation of corruption.
BESCOM is ready for making public disclosure of all its financial dealings, 7 days prior, for public comments. Who will help us in that? (I will be talking to SB on this) Lets work on making information public. That will be an effective weapon in the fight against corruption.
Also a function of Demand and Supply!
kbsyed61 - 22 October, 2011 - 15:38
Manivannan Sir,
Transparency is indeed a step in right direction for arresting the menace of corruption, but certainly not the 'ONLY' factor.
Corruption exists because there exists gap in demand and supply, service is provided on provider's discretion and partly due to regulations.
Take the example of alleged corruption involved in getting a telephone connection in pre-Mobile era. That phenomenon has now almost come to a nil % as a phone connection is available on demand even if it had to be a mobile phone rather than land line. In any case purpose is served. Point is if conventional mode is not available, provide the alternate mode.
Likewise, in power/electricity also, a major point of corruption can be eliminated by enabling the systems and process to provide the new service on demand. Process should be to make the availability as norm and denial an exception. To me this is most difficult compare to Corruption in other areas of operation.
Other areas like Procurement, recruitment can be tackled with more transparent and simpler processes which are promising steps.
I do hope that you and your team would be successful in bringing in these changes.
-Syed
tsubba - 22 October, 2011 - 15:57
for what it is worth my opinion. i for one am not waiting for the perfect bhagawan, mahdi to arrive and solve our problem. team anna et al., may or may not be be perfect i dont care. but they are the ones with a possible solution. the other side are imperfect too, have no solutions and are known to be the actively fomenting the problems and show no signs of solving it.
for me my way or highway makes perfect sense. because the 'my-way' is the only real solution out there at the moment. and given how much the other side benefits from status-quo i dont see how they are going to change it, the other side will have to be super-human do gooders, to change it. as i said i dont believe in super-humans or demi-gods or even gods to intervene.
balance will only come from two equal and opposite forces reacting against each other.
Example of the Judicial system
Anithasunil - 28 August, 2011 - 13:04
Indian judicial system is an example. The number of cases in front of it has grown so much that cases go on for years.. Atleast, we cant limit the coverage in case of the judicial system.. In case of lokpal, we can do that...
And any new system should be a cost-benefit tradeoff..
Question is do we have to set up such a big agency in one go? Without even consider other alternatives? Such as covering some part of it though other measures such as land acquisition bill, right to services act, etc?
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