The Indian government is confident about tabling a key anti-corruption bill during the current parliamentary session, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said according to a statement Sunday. Graft has become a huge issue after the United Progressive Alliance government has faced a slew of big-money scandals over the past year.
The lokpal, or ombudsman, bill envisages the establishment of an independent anti-graft ombudsman with powers to investigate and prosecute government officials.
Singh said the government was "working day and night to give shape to the bill," which would be introduced in parliament after being discussed by his cabinet.
"We will make all the effort to pass the bill in this session," Singh told reporters on a flight home following a visit to Russia, according to a transcript released Sunday.
Anti-corruption activist Anna Hazare has threatened to go on hunger strike if the bill is not passed during the current session, which ends on Friday. Hazare has been campaigning for a strong anti-graft bill since April, with hunger strikes and rallies drawing massive support across India.
Local media outlets reported that Hazare's key demands - such as the inclusion of the prime minister and lower tiers of bureaucracy in the ambit of the ombudsman - had been largely accepted.
But Hazare was disappointed that country's premier Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had not been brought under the ombudsman's purview and would still be under federal control. "Lokpal is toothless without the CBI under it", Hazare said in a letter to Singh, urging him to get the legislation passed quickly.
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