Congress leader Mr Rahul Gandhi today pitched for a strengthened Lokpal by making it a "Constitutional body accountable to Parliament like the Election Commission of India".
Raising a matter of public importance in the Lok Sabha during the zero hour, Mr Gandhi highlighted that discussions around a statutory Lokpal cease at the point of its accountability to the people and the risk that it might itself become corrupt.
He said that the proposed Lokpal law was only one element in the legal framework to combat corruption. "The Lokpal institution alone cannot be a substitute for a comprehensive anti-corruption code. A set of effective laws is required," he said, raising doubts over a single law (Lokpal) ushering in a corruption-free society.
Laws that address critical issues such as government funding of elections and political parties, transparency in public procurement, proper regulation of sectors that fuel corruption such as land and mining, grievance redressal mechanisms in public service delivery of old age pensions and ration cards and continued tax reforms to end tax evasion are necessary to stand alongside the Lokpal initiative, he added.
Stating that India’s biggest achievement was its democratic system, Mr Gandhi said that there was need for more democracy within India’s political parties. "I believe in Government funding of our political parties. I believe in empowering our youth; in opening the doors of our closed political system; in bringing fresh blood into politics and into this House. I believe in moving our democracy deeper and deeper into our villages and our cities," he said.
At the same time, he also cautioned that individual dictates, no matter how well intentioned, must not weaken the democratic process. "A tactical inclusion divorced from the machinery of an elected Government that seeks to undo the checks and balances created to protect the supremacy of Parliament sets a dangerous precedent for a democracy," he said.