A voluntary group Thursday started a campaign to popularise the anti-corruption Jan Lokpal bill in central Delhi’s Chandini Chowk, the parliamentary constituency of union minister Kapil Sibal who was part of a team that drafted a separate official Lokpal bill along with civil society members.
In order to take Jan Lokpal bill, drafted by members of the civil society, to a large number of people, volunteers of India Against Corruption (IAC) would hold a referendum in the area during their four-day campaign.
“We will distribute questionnaires for the next three days among all the people here so that they can be made aware of the components of the bill,” said Javed, a volunteer at IAC.
The main objective behind the referendum was to elicit reaction and feedback of people on the government Lokpal bill and the Jan Lokpal Bill drafted by civil society members led by reformer Anna Hazare.
Twentyfive-year-old Ramesh, who is participating in the referendum, said: “It is an effective strategy to involve the mainstream to form their opinion. The referendum should be held all over India to make everyone participate.”
The key questions in the questionnaire include one on whether the prime minister, higher judiciary and all government employees, and not just a section of officers, should be under the purview of the Lokpal.“The referendum is the best way to reach out to the masses. It is a good step by Anna though the government is not interested in educating the people,” said Varun, another volunteer.
Anup Kumar, a businessman, said :”It is high time that the government supports Anna to weed out corruption.”The IAC volunteers are also circulating sms messages on mobile phones in the area so that more and more people can participate in the referendum.
It is a good step but legally and politically the step that is being taken might not be a correct one.