Anna ill-advised, says NAC member Aruna Roy

Arguing that Anna Hazare should not deride democratic institutions, National Advisory Council member Aruna Roy on Saturday said the Gandhian was “ill-advised” as there was still scope for the civil society group to change the government’s version of the Lokpal Bill.

Referring to the Anna camp’s assertion that sending the government Lokpal Bill to the Standing Committee as a waste of time, Ms. Roy said such committees are an important institution and one should use it as much as possible.

Ms. Roy said the National Campaign for People’s Right to Information (NCPRI), with which she is associated, has prepared a version of Lokpal Bill and would present it before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Law, Justice and Personnel.

“We must assert our rights. But to get rid of these institutions would be a great disaster for all the people in this country. Therefore we must make it work,” she said.

“Our argument is that democracy is people’s right in our system. So we must make these democratic institutions work for us and they must work for us,” she said.

Ms. Roy noted that Mr. Hazare and his associates should take their version of the Lokpal Bill to the Standing Committee.

In an apparent reference to Mr. Hazare setting a deadline to pass the Jan Lokpal Bill, she said, “I think Annaji is ill-advised... any one who says my view should be the only view is wrong.”

“I still believe if we all go and depose before the Standing Committee and sufficiently with well stacked arguments, we can change the Bill around because the government Bill leaves a lot to be desired. It is a bad Bill,” she said.