Bhubaneswar: Advocating a strong
investigative agency under purview of the proposed Lokpal,
Team Anna member Kiran Bedi today said corruption in India was
not "accidental or opportunistic but systematic and planned".
"Corruption is not accidental or opportunistic but
systematic and planned in India. There is need for a system
change approach in order to end corruption," she said here.
Citing instances of the CBI being misused due to lack of
autonomy, she said the Lokpal cannot deliver desired results
unless it had a strong and independent investigating agency.
The CBI should not be dictated but allowed to work
independently and this will be possible only if Lokpal guides
it, Bedi opined while participating in a debate on "Corruption
runs in a vicious circle. Can Lokpal break it?"
Claiming that the UPA government at the Centre had
brought some historic legislations like RTI and RTE, senior
Congress leader Renuka Chowdhury said, "Corruption is in our
mindset. Governance without accountability is not democracy."
Chowdhury said the UPA government wanted to install a
strong Lokpal with Constitutional authority.
BJP`s Rajya Sabha MP Chandan Mitra, however, said a
single piece of legislation could not alone end corruption.
However, the Lokpal system should be provided with adequate
dent in order to deliver.
Senior journalist Prabhu Chawla blamed the political
system for rise in corrupt practices and stressed the need for
electoral reforms.
PTI
