Social activist Mr Anna Hazare on Monday asked the Human Resource Development Minister, Mr Kapil Sibal, to resign from the joint drafting committee for the Lokpal Bill, “if he feels nothing will come” out of it.

He was reacting to Mr Sibal's statement at a public meeting on Sunday saying that if a poor child does not have any means for education, then how will the Lokpal Bill help?

Mr Sibal, however, denied having made any such statement.

Asked about Mr Hazare's demand, Mr Sibal told reporters that he was with Mr Hazare and wanted the Bill to be drafted as early as possible.

Before leaving for his village Ralegaon Siddhi in Maharashtra, Mr Hazare told reporters, “Why is he (Mr Sibal) wasting his and our time? He should do other things for the country. Why does he want to be in the committee?”

The Committee, chaired by the Finance Minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, is slated to hold its first meeting on April 16 and is expected to come out with its draft by June 30.

Activist Mr Arvind Kejriwal also flayed Mr Sibal and said he should not have made “sweeping” statements on the Bill, which were raising doubts about the “seriousness” of the Government in bringing in the legislation.

Mr Kejriwal said “If you are not getting ration due to corruption, then you can get relief from this Lokpal. If you are not getting admission in a school, you can get some relief. But if there is no school, then Lokpal will not help you. It is a different domain and the Government has to do it.”

On Mr Hazare's wish to videograph the proceedings of the panel proceedings, another Minister, Mr Salman Khurshid, said the joint panel was supposed to decide its own procedure.

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