Sonia assures Hazare on Lokpal Bill

New Delhi, January 28, 2013 (Agencies): In a significant development, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi in a letter to social activist Anna Hazare has assured of passing the Lokpal Bill in the upcoming Budget Session, a report said on Monday. The Lokpal Bill was passed in the Lok Sabha in December 2011, but could not be put to vote in the Rajya Sabha due to shortage of time.

Sonia's assurance came two days before Hazare is set to begin his nationwide tour for strengthening the organisation of farmers and in response to a January 23 letter from Anna Hazare seeking clarification whether the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) will be made free from the government control and will it fall in the ambit of Lokpal.

Sonia had referred to the ombudsman bill in her speech at the party’s recently concluded ‘Chintan Shivir’ in Jaipur.

The letter further asked whether the proposed bill had provisions of giving autonomy to Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) and all government employees will be brought in the ambit of Lokpal.

The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) had written a letter to Anna Hazare on January 10 saying that the government is taking action based on the recommendations made by the Rajya Sabha select committee last year.

The central government is committed to passing a strong Lokpal Bill in Parliament to curb corruption, the PMO told the social activist in a letter.

The select committee was formed in 2011 to look into the recommendations of the Rajya Sabha members for the Lokpall Bill.

The bill was passed in the Lok Sabha Dec 2011 and has been pending in the Rajya Sabha.

Hazare had agreed to break his 12-day long fast in Aug 2011 after Parliament broadly agreed to his three key demands to battle corruption.

Anna Hazare wanted the lower bureaucracy to be brought under the purview of the Lokpal, Lokayuktas in the states be brought under the Lokpal, and a citizen's charter for government departments be worked out.

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