Jan Lok pal bill Movement

Let us study about Jan Lok pal bill movement, a very popular movement that started to pass the Jan Lok pal bill in the parliament. The word Lokpal has been derived from the Sanskrit words "Lok" meaning People and "pala" meaning caretaker. Therefore, the word Lokpal means "caretaker of people".

Mr. Shanti Bhushan proposed the first Lokpal Bill in 1968 and got it passed in 4th Loksabha but failed in Rajya Sabha in the year 1969. Thereafter, Lokpal Bill was introduced in 1971, 1977, 1985, 1989, 1996, 1998, 2001, and 2005 and in 2008 but was never passed and is still pending in Parliament.

Under the Lokpal Bill, there is a provision for filing complaints with the Ombudsman against the Prime minister, other ministers, and members of Parliament. This was for removing the sense of injustice from the minds of citizens and to install public confidence in the efficiency of the administrative machinery by completing the investigations regarding corruption within a year.

Whenever the Lokpal bill was introduced to the House, it was referred to a joint committee of Parliament or a departmental standing committee of the Home ministry for further improvements and every time before the Government could take a final stand on the bill, the house was dissolved.

Anna Hazare, a social activist along with his team fought for this bill to get passed and did it on December 27, 2011. However, his team and other political parties claimed that the bill is weak and would not serve its intended purpose. Therefore, the proposed bill by the ruling Congress Party is yet to get acceptance from the Rajya Sabha.

On December 29, 2011, the Parliament of India saw a lot of drama and disruption by various political parties like LJP, RJD, and SP. As of now, the bill still has not been passed in both houses.