New Delhi: Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Indian parliament, passed the much debated “Lokpal (Ombudsman) Bill” late on Tuesday night after a discussion that lasted more than 11 hours.
This will pave the way for setting up an Ombudsman (Lokpal) office which will look into the complaints against corruption.
The bill was passed in response to the general public sentiment triggered across the country by an anti-corruption activist Anna Hazare, who began his indefinite hunger strike in the country’s financial capital Mumbai on Tuesday demanding installation of an all-powerful Ombudsman to fight corruption.
Speaking during the debate, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said a final decision on the legislation must rest with the parliament. “The bill lives up to the promise that members of this house collectively made to the people of the country by the way of ‘sense of house’ on August 27,” he said.
He also said that it is wrong to dub all bureaucracy and politicians as “corrupt” or “dishonest”. “It (passage of the bill) is a serious business and must eventually be performed by all of us who have been constitutionally assigned. Others can persuade, but the decision must rest with us,” Singh said, referring to Anna Hazare.
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