Govt, civil society talks on Lokpal Bill fail

New Delhi (PTI) - Talks between Indian
government and social activist Anna Hazare-led civil society
failed to make headway on Wednesday and the two sides to
agreed to meet again on June 20 and 21 to bridge "strong
divergence" of opinion.
In view of the differences over various elements of
the proposed Lokpal Bill, it was decided at the two-and-half
hour meeting of the joint drafting committee that a note will
be sent to the Union Cabinet by June 30, carrying versions of
both the sides.
The Anna Hazare-led civil society members suggested
that Lokpal should be empowered top probe corruption cases
against officials doing away with the practice of conducting
departmental probe along with a CBI enquiry. However, the
government members rejected.
The other issue discussed in the meeting was the
structure of Lokpal. The Hazare team proposed a 11-member
independent anti-corruption watchdog with subordinates having
powers while the government side differed arguing that only 11
members be empowered to take decisions.
HRD Minister Kapil Sibal said the committee will again
meet on June 20 and 21 in an attempt to bridge differences.
"It is clear there are areas where there are strong
divergence of opinion...Hopefully the civil society members
will give us a draft on issues of divergence. We ourselves
will prepare a draft on the issues on which we think there are
divergence and we will try and arrive at a consensus.
"If no consensus is not arrived, then we will forward
a draft bill with both versions so that the Cabinet can take a
view," he said. The process will be completed by June 30.
Claiming that nothing could be achieved from
Wednesday's meeting, activist Arvind Kejriwal said, "the
government is trying to kill the Lokpal even before it is
born."