Pictorial Analysis of Govt Lokpal & Jan Lokpal

How do the two Bills before the Standing Committee -- Govt Lokpal & Jan Lokpal -- propose to eradicate corruption from the country? Each proposes a very different mechanism. How is one superior to the other?

1) To form a visual idea of key differences between the Govt Lokpal and Jan Lokpal structure and workflow, see this flow-chart: http://tinyurl.com/Flowchart-JanLokpal-GovtLokpal

2) To understand merits and demerits of each system, see this comparison of the various sections of the two Lokpal Bills that are currently before the Rajya Sabha Standing Committee: http://tinyurl.com/Jan-Lokpal-versus-Govt-Lokpal

PLEASE BEAR IN MIND, THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A FREE LUNCH. Jan Lokpal Bill specifies that the Lokpal’s budget may be one-fourth percent of the revenues of Govt of India, and will be directly charged to Consolidated Fund of India.

How much is one-fourth percent of the Union Govt’s Revenues? Let us calculate: Union Budget 2010-11 says that total receipts in Consolidated Fund (revenue plus capital receipts) are Rs 46,62,263 crore. One-fourth percent of that amount is Rs. 11,656 crore.

Just to give you an idea of how much money this is: This amount is more than 10% of Indian Railways gross earnings for the year. So, the ticket fare of one-in-ten passengers (and also the freight earning of one-in-ten goods trains may go directly to running the Lokpal establishment!

That is not necessarily a bad thing. But this enormous figure only confirms that this is an important issue, involving your money and mine. Please spend 10 minutes studying this and form your own opinion based on documents -- and not based on what everybody else is saying.

Carefully read the observations in the right-hand column of the table. If you disagree, look at the sections of both Lokpal Bills in the same row of the table to the left of the observations.

Remember, eternal vigilance is the price that we all have to pay for liberty. Don’t let other people do your thinking for you.

Warm Regards,

Krish

98215 88114

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Dear Friends,

In the attached Lokpal Flow Charts:

• RED ARROWS SHOW INPUTS AND OUTPUTS. Both the charts show inputs i.e. Citizens’ Complaints as red arrows. They also show the outputs i.e. action taken against corrupt public servants as red arrows. The only aim of our “inputs” is to get “outputs”. We write complaints only because we want action against Corrupt officials.

• BLUE ARROWS SHOW INTERNAL PROCESSES OF LOKPAL AND COURTS. Once the complaint goes to Jan Lokpal, a chain of events happens inside the mechanism of Lokpal. Directions are given to Investigation Wing, Investigation Wing presents preliminary evidence to Lokpal bench, Lokpal Bench directs the Prosecution Wing to file chargesheet against the accused, etc. Some events happen between Lokpal and external agencies such as Police e.g. Police is directed to search and seize documents.

• THE ARROWS ARE NUMBERED TO SHOW SEQUENCE OF EVENTS. The citizens’ complaint is event no. 1 – the trigger. The final events are directions given by Lokpal for Departmental Action against the public servant, or the Special Court’s judgment against public servant. This may be shown as event no. 5.

Friends, the attached flow-charts are only indicative. They are not exhaustive, and therefore, they do not enable us to compare ALL the salient features of the two systems.

For detailed study of the pros and cons of both systems, read: http://tinyurl.com/Jan-Lokpal-versus-Govt-Lokpal

The main points of comparison and remarks are in the right-hand column of the table. If you disagree with the remarks, please read the sections of each Bill on the left, and draw your own conclusions.

This is a crucial issue of the times we are living in. It is important to form a reasoned opinion, based on facts and scientific thinking. Don’t be led by the hype. Don’t let other people do your thinking for you.

Warm Regards,

Krishnaraj Rao

Mumbai

98215 88114

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