General Knowledge - General Awareness Quiz - Questions and Answers, GK 2013

Arvind Kejriwal

Jan Lokpal movement

In 2010, Kejriwal protested against corruption in the Commonwealth Games. He argued that the Central Vigilance Commission CVC did not have any powers to take any action against the guilty, while CBI was incapable of launching an unbiased investigation against the ministers who controlled it. He advocated appointment of public ombudsman Lokpal at the Centre and Lokayuktas in states.In 2011, Kejriwal joined several other activists, including Anna Hazare and Kiran Bedi, to form the India Against Corruption IAC group. The IAC demanded enactment of the Jan Lokpal Bill, which would result in a strong ombudsman. The campaign evolved into the 2011 Indian anti corruption movement. In response to the campaign, the governments advisory body the National Advisory Council drafted a Lokpal Bill. However, the NACs Bill was criticized by Kejriwal and other activists on the grounds that it did not have enough powers to take action against the prime minister, other corrupt officeholders and the judiciary. The activists also criticized the procedure for selection of Lokpal, the transparency clauses and the proposal to disallow the Lokpal from taking cognizance of public grievances.Amid continuing protests, the Government constituted a committee to Draft a Jan Lokpal Bill. Kejriwal was one of the civil society representative members of this committee. However, he alleged that the IAC activists had an unequal position in the committee, and the government appointees kept ignoring their recommendations. The Government argued that the activists could not be allowed to blackmail the elected representatives through protests. Kejriwal retorted that democratically elected representatives could not be allowed to function like dictators, and asked for a public debate on the contentious issues.