Current Lokayukta weaker than DVAC, rue activists

Talking to DT Next, Jayaram Venkatesan, convenor, Arappor Iyakkam, pointed out that the institution is going to be redundant. “We are extremely unhappy with the current Lokayukta team, which has no independence of any kind. The institution is going to be of little use, unless we bring about key amendments. Not only the act was passed without discussion on a public forum and diluted, but also the amendments proposed by us have been overlooked,” he said.

He added that several requests for meeting with officials have been turned down and the fact that the government didn’t want to meet with people who wanted to bring about changes reflected a sad state of affairs in the state. “It is very undemocratic on their part,” he said.

Arappor Iyakkam had sought independence at three levels in the Lokayukta- financial, functional and recruitment. “Moreover, there is no persecution wing to punish the corrupt. The purpose of such a powerless institution is a big question. This mere fact finding commission can’t even file an FIR. They cannot file a charge sheet and can do nothing about the corrupt. That will be worse than the toothless DVAC today,” observed Jayaram.

A Narayanan of Change India, who has been batting for a Lokayukta in the state for over a decade now, said that like in other states, Lokayukta in Tamil Nadu is going to be rendered ineffective. “All political parties lack the will. No one wants it to have teeth as it affects them directly. Even now, this has been formed because the court set a deadline, not because they have the will to end corruption. It is an eye wash. None of the other states has a good record with Lokayukta.”

Narayanan also pointed out that a lackadaisical approach suits the political stakeholders. “There was an amendment made to the DVAC saying that the Home Secretary had to give consent for filing a case against any government official. That shows any mechanism in place to take the corrupt to task is going to be diluted,”he said.

He added that Lokayukta like the much debated Lokpal will soon be a forgotten story.