By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: Leading NGOs of the State including the Khasi Students’ Union (KSU), Mait Shaphrang Movement (MSM) and the Meghalaya Right to Information Movement (MRTIM) on Monday demanded that the Lokayukta Bill, which was passed in the Assembly last year, should be brought back to the House for discussion and debate.
Talking to newsmen here in the city, MSM convener Michael Syiem said the Lokayukta Bill, which has been sent back to the House by the Governor, should be taken up by the House for discussion so that it can become an effective and transparent bill.
The Bill was passed in the last Assembly session without any discussion or debate amid protests from the Opposition members and NGOs.
The protests had prompted the Governor to return the Bill to the Assembly asking the Government to make certain change.
Angela Rangad of the MRTIM asserted that the Bill is full of loopholes and there is a need to move many more amendments to the Bill.
She also said that it is mandatory to place the Bill before the new legislature.
Reacting to a query about the loopholes, she said that the most objectionable section of the Bill is the tenure of Lokayukta which is three years and can be extended. Another provision is that the Lokayukta may lobby for extension unlike the RTI Commissioner.
The NGOs rued the fact that Lokayukta can only recommend action and forward the complaints to the competent authority.
“The Bill in its present form seeks to protect the corrupt while ‘punishing’ those who are fighting corruption,” Rangad added.
Policy formulation of the Government is also exempted from the purview of the Lokayukta. Another glaring flaw is that the Government in consultation with the Lokayukta can notify exclusion of public servants from the jurisdiction of the Lokayukta.
The NGOs lamented that the Bill discourages people from filing complaints against scams and corruption as it states that if any complaint is found to be fake, the complainant may be jailed for three years.
The NGOs also asserted that they will create public awareness on the loopholes in the Bill.
KSU president Daniel Khyriem also said that almost all the political parties in their manifestos have spoken about bringing a strong Lokayukta and there was a need for the parties to implement their promises.
