Mangalore: Justice N Santhosh Hegde said that the state government is planning to weaken the power of Lokayuktha by bringing certain amendments in the existing law. A draft bill is already prepared with the secret consensus of all the political parties and the government officers. We all need to oppose it, he said.
He was speaking after the formal inauguration of Forum for Justice here in the city on Saturday, September 7. Hegde said that the Lokayuktha has powers to officially fight for corruption and to meet the grievances of aggrieved public. However, in the proposed bill, the Lokayukta does not have the power to address the grievance of people, he said adding that it is one of the important powers and he had received more than 25,000 cases from the people in five years.
The state government, politicians of all parties and government officers are hand in glove regarding the bill. Ultimately, the burden falls on the people who oppose corruption. They will have to approach court for simple reasons like if the officers demand bribe to issue birth certificate, income certificate etc And, this was possible approaching the lokayukta.
He also criticized the government’s plan to appoint nine lokayuktas. He said it will only benefit the retired officers to enjoy luxuious life with government facilities such as car, bungalow and good salary. It’s of no use, he stressed.
Greed is no good
The former Lokayukta of Karnataka said that it is impossible to eradicate corruption. We can only control it for some extent. Our leaders and officers have looted funds which were sanctioned for basic facilities such as drinking water. This is nothing but greed. The humanity is at stake. In fact, the society has respected the materially rich people and not for values, he said.
Proper methodology
Another key note speaker Dr. Ravindranath Shanbhag said that an analysis coupled with a proper methodology can only help the forum in the long run. If it is just an emotional outburst, it does not help. Only few movements in the history did stay long, while most of them died in just few days.
He said numbers are not important, but the methodology of working. It’s not protest that gets you ultimate results, it’s the way we demonstrate ourselves against corruption, he said. We should appropriately use the time and energy of people, and only then, the fight lasts long, Shanbagh added.
Dayanand Kotian, president of Forum for Justice said that they will organize a mammoth meet of over one lakh students to raise voice against corruption. He also said that that forum started six months ago, and now the government officers are afraid of getting into corruption.
At the occasion, the legal, students and auto rickshaw owners wing of the forum was inaugurated.
