By IANS,
New Delhi: National Advisory Council (NAC) member Aruna Roy Friday demanded passage of the Lokpal bill, the grievance redressal bill and the whistle blowers’ protection bill in the ongoing monsoon session of parliament, saying the delay bodes ill for those who work against corruption and mismanagement.
In a letter to NAC chairperson and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, Roy said she was “exceedingly disturbed and alarmed” at the violence unleashed on anyone who asks to see records or raises issues of corruption.
Roy, who is convener of the NAC’s working group on transparency and accountability, said each ministry should have a mechanism to deal with complaints of attacks on people who make complaints of corruption related to its programmes.
She said there were instances of laws being misused, and harassment of and registration of false cases against those who raise issues of corruption.
“The government seems to take it as routine, unfortunately, instead of seeing this as a warning of both the increasing discredit of institutions of governance and the callousness of what may happen to self-respecting citizens of this country,” Roy said in the letter.
She said delay in passage of key anti-corruption legislation bodes ill for citizens who exercise their obligation to work against mismanagement and corruption in governance at the point of delivery.
“Once again, I would like to underscore the need for the Lokpal bill, grievance redressal bill and the whistle blowers protection bill to be passed in this session of parliament. This is a demand that has repeatedly been made by the NCPRI (National Campaign for People’s Right to Information) and many other citizens’ organisations, and echoed by most people across the country,” she said.
The monsoon session of parliament is scheduled to conclude Sep 7.