Why delay over Lokpal?

The lack of political will alone is to blame for the Lokpal appointment delay. The Lokpal Act became law five years ago (January 16, 2014), and still an independent anti-corruption watchdog isn’t in place. Last week, the Supreme Court pushed the Centre in the right direction, setting a deadline for shortlisting names by February-end by the search committee. The BJP and Congress have been dragging their feet over meetings of the search panel to zero in on a suitable candidate to take charge of receiving complaints and investigating corruption among public servants, both politicians and bureaucrats. The 2013 law also called for Lokayuktas in states; but at least 12 states don’t have any ombudsman in place, others have vacancies while some states have never had one in their history.

Anna Hazare, the indefatigable campaigner for a Lokpal, has announced he will again be going on a fast from January 30 to press for the appointment of a Lokpal. As long as the BJP was in the Opposition, it was a keen campaigner for a Lokpal and many parties backed the social activist’s high-profile India Against Corruption movement. But in power, it has shown extreme reluctance to set in motion the appointment and has even put obstacles in the path of setting up a proper infrastructure to get an apolitical ombudsman-type of investigator in place. The wrangling over a place for the representative of the Congress should be seen only as an excuse to put off the appointment.  Now that the Supreme Court has set a deadline, will the committee swing into action in earnest and shortlist candidates for the Lokpal’s post?