RAJYA SABHA ______∗SYNOPSIS of DEBATE ______(Proceedings Other Than Questions and Answers) ______Wednesday, August 24, 2011/ Bhadrapada 2, 1933 (Saka) ______
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RAJYA SABHA _________ ∗SYNOPSIS OF DEBATE _________ (Proceedings other than Questions and Answers) _________ Wednesday, August 24, 2011/ Bhadrapada 2, 1933 (Saka) _________ OBITUARY REFERENCE MR. CHAIRMAN: Hon. Members, I refer with profound sorrow to the passing away of Shri Rafique Alam, a former Member of this House on the 3rd of April, 2011 at the age of 82 years. Born at Kashibari in Purnea, Bihar in June, 1929, Shri Rafique Alam had his education at Russel High School, Kishanganj High School, Purnea, and Aligarh Muslim University. An agriculturist, Shri Rafique Alam was associated with several educational institutions in Purnea district of Bihar. Shri Rafique Alam was the recipient of the National Integration Award, 1988. Shri Alam began his legislative career as a Member of the Bihar Legislative Assembly in 1962 and was a Member of that Assembly from 1962 to 1967 and again from 1969 to 1980. He served as Cabinet Minister in the Government of Bihar for several terms, holding portfolios of Transport, Local Self-Government, Irrigation, Housing, Jails, Animal Husbandry, Fishery and Wakf, PWD, Rural Reconstruction and Panchayati Raj. Shri Rafique Alam represented the State of Bihar in this House from April, 1982 to April, 1988, and again from April, 1988 to ___________________________________________________ ∗This Synopsis is not an authoritative record of the proceedings of the Rajya Sabha. 206 April, 1994. Shri Rafique Alam also served as Deputy Minister in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas from February to June, 1988; as Minister of State in the Ministry of Textiles from 1988 to 1989, and as Minister of State (Independent Charge) in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare from July to November, 1989 in the Union Council of Ministers. He was the Chairman of Committee on Petitions, Rajya Sabha, from 1986 to 1988. Shri Rafique Alam was also the Leader of the Indian Haj Goodwill Delegation in 1988. In the passing away of Shri Rafique Alam, the country has lost an able administrator and a distinguished parliamentarian. We deeply mourn the passing away of Shri Rafique Alam. (One minute’s silence was observed as a mark of respect to the memory of the deceased.) _________ SHORT DURATION DISCUSSION Growing incidence of corruption in the country THE LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION (SHRI ARUN JAITLEY), initiating the discussion, said: The issue of corruption has acquired a centre stage as far as the social and political agenda of India is concerned. The reason for this immediately may appear to be the movement which has been launched by Shri Anna Hazare and his colleagues. All of us are anxiously waiting for a moment when some honourbale settlement is arrived at, so that corruption can be checked effectively in this country. Parliament is the ultimate law making authority but movements, outside Parliament today, has a clear message that Parliament must perform its commitment to the people. Today, there is a serious crisis of credibility. We should restore it. I originally thought that when liberalization set in, we would probably have a much cleaner society. But, as we progressed, we found that new areas started emerging so far as corruption is concerned. Acquisition of land, underground mining, under water exploration for oil and gas and 207 even space have also emerged as an area of making money. In the area of liquor, tenders and wealth are concentrated in limited hands. The plight of our Revenue Department, Customs, Excise and Taxes is an open secret. We should have a serious look over the whole policy. Tenders in Ports and Highways are other major areas in regard to corruption. Capitation fees are being charged for seats in medical colleges. It has become an accepted norm that corrupt practice would prevail in the departments of various Government departments like municipalities, rationing, licensing, transport etc. Media is also not beyond the clutches of corruption. When we were in the power, following the report of Dr. Manmohan Singh, the then Leader of Opposition, we tried to introduced a system for funding political parties to make such fundings legitimate, but we have not been able to invent that system so far. We created specialised investigative agencies hoping that whenever corruption takes place in any sphere of life, these agencies will then step in. But we found that corruption has crept in these agencies also. If Indian democracy survives today, the reason is not our political will but the public opinion of this country. For last many years, the political system has been debating what should be the kind of Lokpal. When the Government decided to come out with a draft, there must be systematic mechanisms. It must be reasonably free from Government. But you always wanted Government to have 60 to 70 per cent majority. So, you have almost lost confidence of the people. According to the NDA Government's formulation, we will include the Prime Minister after he ceases to be Prime Minister. But if, prima facie, Prime Minister at a given point of time is questionable and corrupt, should he be allowed to complete his term? He must be checked then and there. He must not be allowed to be in office even for a single day if there is serious stigma on him. Now, I come to the issue of Judiciary. Judiciary cannot be covered by this Lokpal Bill. Judiciary should be covered by another alternative mechanism which we call the National Judicial Commission. Some people want to strengthen the Judicial Accountability Bill. 208 Now, I find that there is a difficulty in the grievance mechanism. There is a debate in this respect whether it should be in Lokpal or in a separate Bill. The Governments of Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh have come out with such legislation. It should be examined seriously why offices like Governors should be kept away from the appointment of Lokpal. No State Government will accept that the Governor can make an appointment by saying that elected Government is not to be involved. If that were to happen, the Federal structure would seriously get affected. I think that the Lokpal should be removed either through an impeachment process or the Supreme Court removal process. It must be independent of the political executive. One suggestion is to have a Bench to deal with corruption cases expeditiously in every court. All of us should immediately agree to this. SHRI SATYAVARAT CHATURVEDI: We are discussing a very serious issue in this House. Corruption is prevalent almost in all the areas of public life. People are enraged with corruption. We should aloofen this issue from politics. It is a national problem and the entire people are prepared to fight with the demon of corruption. The people have a common notion that politics and politicians are the main source of corruption. Therefore, we should introspect and analyze ourselves honestly. It is a fact that the politicians have so far been blaming each other irresponsibly in this House as they had their political interests. Thus, we have blemished ourselves. It is our duty that we should make an honest introspection of ourselves. Our outlook to examine corruption is not honest. I reveal an incident that I had met a person in a village who was very eager to get rid of corruption. But, his son became an engineer with my help and acquired a lot of property and money by illegal means. He had also purchased a lot of landed property for his father. With his salary, he could not be so wealthy. His father could not realize the extent of corruption into which he and his son were themselves sunk. It means that each person is complaining against others' corruption; but, he is not making an introspection into himself. Therefore, if we resolve that we have to eradicate corruption, we will be able to see the politicians with respect 209 and the political instability will also come to an end. We are far from the ground realities and we are unsuccessful to enhance respect for the Government. We were not sure whether the Prime Minister should be included in Lokpal Bill or not. If we make an introspection of ourselves and admit our faults, there will be the possibilities to improve ourselves. When we remain rigid, the problem arises. If we had taken a view a month ago that whether the Prime Minister should be included in the Lokpal Bill or not, the present crisis would not have been created. It was a political problem and a political problem should be resolved politically. But, it is also a fact that the steps Government have taken have never been taken before. Corruption is an age-old phenomena. It is a social problem and economic problem. We were all collectively responsible for it and even today we have a collective responsibility therefore. Our yardstick can not change from Karnataka to Delhi, as it will create problems. The Lokayukta has not been appointed for years in Gujarat. The High Court has sought a reply from the Government of Gujarat. We the people of all political parties resolve as a political family member that our fight against corruption should not be based upon vested interest. It would convey to the nation that the Parliament of the country and the political leadership is sensitive to the corruption. I respect Anna Hazare ji and whether Anna Hazare and his colleagues are ready to obey and hear a single word on law. The baseless allegations levelled from their platform, I condemn them. Whenever I came across a political figure for a couple of days there was none to have fully consented the Bill of Anna Hazare.