New Delhi: The Rajya Sabha on Tuesday finally passed the much delayed Lokpal bill, paving the way for setting up an ombudsman to battle corruption in the government and among public servants.
The Lokpal and Lokayuktas Bill 2011 was passed by voice vote at the end of over five hours of debate in the Upper House that saw political parties broadly supporting the legislation but saying it must be more effective.
The Samajwadi Party, which has opposed the bill, staged a boycott and did not take part in the debate.
The bill had been pending in the Rajya Sabha for almost two years as opposition members had reservations on the draft passed by the Lok Sabha in December 2011.
A select committee had examined the bill in detail and given its recommendations, many of which were incorporated by the government in the amended bill tabled in the Rajya Sabha last week.
The amended bill will now go to the Lok Sabha where it is expected to be taken up on Wednesday.
The Lokpal bill has hogged national limelight after activist Anna Hazare led a massive protest involving hundreds of thousands in the capital in 2011.
Hazare is again on fast in his village in Maharashtra for the past eight days but has promised to call it off after the Lokpal legislation is enacted.
Apart from establishing Lokpal in New Delhi, the bill provides for creation of Lokayuktas in states within a year of the notification of the law. The states will be sent a model bill to frame their own laws. (IANS)