Government of the Governed

A bill has been recently submitted to the Parliament of India for the 8th time in India's history entitled "Jan Lokpal." The aim of this piece of legislation is very simple: to empower whistleblowers through an elected and appointed commission very similar to the Election Commission of India. The basic function is also very practical: to report any sort of corruption that may occur within the lines of the Indian Government.

Yet, we must wonder: would such a powerful singular Institution limit or enhance Democracy in India or will it serve as a rubber stamp TO corruption like the current Anti-Corruption Cells established in Police Departments around the Country? Realizing that the commission does not work without, as in it runs on, citizen interest and a provision that provides for a quick and clean elimination of convicted Lokpal members is in place, it is clear that these worries need not be.

However, as effective and powerful as this one Institution may be, its output is not as much of a cause for difficulty as the procedures of input. The proposed bill suggests that complaints can be lodged suo moto - that is the Lokpal can investigate complaints made by its members - or by the citizenry. This differentiates from the 2010 bill, which suggested that only the Speaker of the Lok Sabha or the Chairman of the Rajhya Sabha could forward such complaints. Despite BJP resoning, only the former submission pattern seems to be effective as it provides for a possibility that is actually quite obvious.

If we take a look at the most recent proposal, if the citizenry were able to lodge complaints, then there would be only two possible "citizen" parties that can participate: that is the briber or a third party. Considering the agreement that is bound by labor and pay that burdens the briber and the bribed, the former would not have an incentive to carry out a complaint, unless to coax or further blackmail the government worker to do what he or she - as in the briber - has requested. As for a third party: such a party will exist only rarely; however, if one were to exist, it is only a matter of effort to consummate a deal behind closed doors.

But of course, there is a third possible party that can lodge complaint, that is none other than the bribed. What if each and every government worker is given a compensation to lodge a complaint - in other words blow whistles - with the Lokpal or her state or local counterpart? If anything, I feel that this would be the best policy to follow in terms of forwarding complaints...after all, the 2010 policy leaves the heads of the Parliament formidable to anti-corruption charges.

That said, as there is talk of compensation, monetary benefits speak louder than immaterial justice provided otherwise by the Lokpal and her sister Judicial Branch members. If these benefits are not provided for, the Lokpal will just be another addition to the overwhelming Indian rubberstamp: empty of complaints, yet full of power.