Saturday, August 20, 2011

Lets know JAN LOKPAL Bill

 Government DraftAnna Hazare's Jan Lokpal
Corruption of Prime MinisterIf the PM is involved in corruption then CBI would investigate, not the Lokpal.
(CBI directly comes under PM, how will CBI investigate its own boss?)
Lokpal, which is an independent body, would investigate PM.
(If govt doesn't want PM's corruption to be investigated, let them amend constitution upfront rather than making a pretense of investigation by CBI)
Corruption within JudiciaryA committee of three judges from same court will give permission for investigation against the accused judge.
(How will judge from the same court give permission to investigate their colleague judge?)
A seven member bench of Lokpal will give permission after an open hearing.
(Open hearing will give transparency to the whole process and definitely result into greater accountability of Judiciary system)
Corruption of MPsIf a MP votes or puts up a question in parliament in return for a bribe, then he/she could be investigated by a committee of other MP's as in the present system.
(In the past 62 years, many instances of MP's taking bribe have surfaced but not even a single instance has been honestly investigated nor any MP sent to jail.)
The investigation would be done by an independent Lokpal.


(Since Lokpal will be independent body, their will be conclusive investigation.)

Corruption faced by Common CitizenEvery department will declare its citizen charter specifying work to be done, the officer responsible and time required. However, it doesn't state what happens in case of dereliction of duty.
(Today, any work like license, ration card, business permits, etc. in a government department requires the citizen to pay a bribe. Why will the department change from this modus operandi when there are no penalties for non-performance?)
If the citizen charter is violated the the Lokpal would penalize the concerned officers and the penalty would go to the complainant as compensation






Selection of Lokpal1. In a ten member selection committee, six
    are politicians, of which five will be from
    the ruling party.
2. Selection process will be decided by
    selection committee.

 
(This kind of system will increase the probability that a corrupt persons and those favorable to ruling party are finally selected) 
1. Selection committee would comprise of two politicians, four judges and head of two independent constitutional authorities.

2. The search committee would comprise of civil society members and retired constitutional authorities.

3. A detailed selection process has been described which would be transparent and have people's participation.
Accountability of Lokpal MembersThe members of Lokpal would be accountable to the government. Only government can file a petition in the Supreme Court for their removal.The  accountability of the Lokpal members would be to the public. Any citizen can file a petition in the Supreme Court for removal of a corrupt Lokpal member.
Corruption within Lokpal StaffsLokpal itself will investigate complaints against its own staff,
(Thus creating serious conflict of interest.)
Complaint against Lokpal staff will be heard by an independent authority. Complaints will be investigated within a month and guilty will be removed from his job.
Jurisdiction of LokpalOnly group 'A' officers of the central Government would come under the jurisdiction of Lokpal, while the lower level officers and the state employees would be left out.

(So where would the common citizen go to complain about corruption in licensing, Panchayat, Schools, Hospitals, rations etc.)
All the employee of Central Government will be under Lokpal's ambit. On similar patterns of Lokpal, Lokayaukta will be set up state level and all the employees of state government will be under its ambit.


Whistleblower's ProtectionThe CVC is responsible of protecting the whistleblowers. However, the CVC neither has the capacity nor the Legal powers required to protect whistleblowers.It should be Lokpal's responsibility to protect the whistleblowers. The Lokpal has been given sufficient power for the same.
Removal of Corrupt Officer'sThe power to remove officers lies with the minister of that particular department.
(Since the minister also gets a cut out of the money that is taken as bribe, corrupt officers are rewarded rather than punished)
The decision to remove a corrupt officer lies with a bench of Lokpal members which would hear such cases in public.

Punishment for CorruptionMaximum punishment for corruption is 10 years




The maximum sentence is life imprisonment. Officers senior in rank would attract stiffer punishment.
(Power comes with responsibility. Government employee enjoy more levies life on tax paid by citizen so in case of mis-conduct they punished with same way.) 

Sunday, October 31, 2010

China's fast rise is an opportunity for India

China’s fast rise is a perfect example of a big country’s transformation into a great power. The ambitious China’s is striving hard for # 1 position and doing everything from assertive trade policies to military expansion.

Our PM has said in his recent visit to Malasyia, there is lot of space in world for both the rising powers India & China. But contrary to India, indistinctness in Chine’s policy has increased the fear that China will become more assertive as it grows richer and have real consequences.

This has set of jitters cross the world, prompting new alliances all round to keep them out of Chiness influence. India’s strength and parallel economy rise has made it a perfect player with ability to counterweight China. Even China thinks so and working on encircling India in South Asia with its growing link with Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Nepal.

In the new geo-political equation, India has emerged as a major power with well-built potential. Indian policy makers have quickly realised this fact and promoting itself throughout the region.  

No doubt the new spark in Indo-US relation is a result of this. After nuclear deal, India & US has tied up to lower the Chiness influence in African Continent. EU, Japan and ASEAN countries are also working towards strengthing ties with India.

This all is working in favour of India where India is definitely gaining ground with litter effort. So it may sound puzzling but China's fast rise is definitely an opportunity for India

Monday, October 18, 2010

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND DEVELOPING NATIONS

Intellectual property rights give the owner of that property the exclusive right to use.
This creates monopoly where owner of the property allow others to use it for payment or fee.

The protection of IR is designed to ensure that inventors who invest their money and time in creative activity receive a return on their investments. This monopoly power generates monopoly rent and it is these profits that provide the incentive for engaging in further research to keep hold of the monopoly.

Economy efficiency means knowledge should be made freely available, but the IR regime is intended to restrict usages. Somewhere this has definitely impaired the leverage of globalisation.


The role of developing nations

The fundamental criterion for a free market is the equal availability of information to all participants. But with the use of IR, information is packaged and sold as commodities and free market becomes the casualty. When two economies of uneven stages of technological development trade bilaterally, the trade surplus always remains in favour of advanced economy unless the trade negotiation is thought through by less advance economy.