Sunday, January 1, 2012

The Year 2011 is gone let’s bring in the New Year 2012

The Past Year 2011:


The year 2011 had its ups & downs like every year.
 We saw the biggest scam in the mobile telephony where the figures are so huge, that we cannot even figure out.
 Anna Hazare led a crusade against corruption and it was an eye opener for the world to witness such a Gandhian Peace movement in today’s times.
 It mustered great support in Ram Lila Grounds and the Indian Government and the polity were shaken up to respect the sentiments of the people.
 What happened later was not at all comforting.
 Despite the assurance given to Anna about the introduction of Lok Pal Bill, the Government dilly dallied as usual in the typical bureaucratic way the government is used to conduct their affairs.
 This led to Anna once again calling for a hunger movement in Mumbai from 27Th December.

  Lok Pal Bill.


The Government scurried and introduced the Lok Pal bill in Lok sabha, which got passed because they had majority.
 However the same bill got a bashing in Rajya Sabha where the opposition had a majority.
 All this indicates that in our country petty politics takes precedence over real issues and now the Lok Pal Bill is in abeyance until the next budget session.
 The nation would have to wait till then. It is ironic that we as a country have not the courage and will to arrest corruption; it indicates the degeneration of moral values in our country.
 Meanwhile Anna’s movement in Mumbai petered out due to lack of mass appeal; he had to call off his hunger movement.

  The New Year: 2012

 What is in store for us in the New Year?
 Would there be better polity? 
Would the Lok Pal Bill be passed in the budget session in February 2012?
 Can there be transparency in governance?
 The government has put in place the accountability & governance in public limited companies, but the same Government is not ready to be accountable for its doings.
 What is in store for us in 2012 remains to be seen.

  Here is wishing India All The Best in 2012 and hope there is peace, happiness and good governance in our country.

2 comments:

debanjan™ said...

Dear Sir,
First let me wish you & your family all the happiness & good health in 2012 from bottom of my heart.

The United Kingdom has recently enacted such a law, namely, The 2010 UK Bribery Act (http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2010/pdf/ukpga_20100023_en.pdf) which is one of the most comprehensive anti-corruption laws in the world. It covers the public and private sectors and declares the offering, promising or giving of a bribe as much an offence as requesting, agreeing to receive or accepting of a bribe. In relation to commercial organisations, the Act declares it an offence if an organisation fails to prevent bribe being paid by those who provide services for and on behalf of the organisation. Even if the bribe is paid by a third party, the organisation on whose behalf it is paid is still guilty, subject to some exceptions. The penalties prescribed are also very stiff – imprisonment up to ten years or unlimited fine or both.

It is imperative that India also enacts a similar national law which covers all persons so that corruption is viewed not as an issue to be dealt with only in public life, but as a malignancy that is eating into the moral and economic vitals of the country. Simultaneously, the power of the Lokpal has to extend to deal with all forms of corruption under the proposed law, in consultation with the appropriate sectoral agencies/regulators like RBI, SEBI, and TRAI. Lokpal and the new laws together may succeed in effectively addressing corruption, which could well be the prime cause for the persistence of poverty in the country and is nothing less than a national shame.

Hoping for the best for our country.

A.R.Iyer said...

Dear Debanjan,
Thanks for the New Year Wishes.
Wish You also a Very Happy new Year.
Your comments are great and hope we implement the Lok Pal Bill at the earliest and we have a better system in our country.