Accusing the government of reducing the proposed Lok Pal to an "empty tin box with no powers", Team Anna today said they were surprised at the move to exclude Citizen's Charter and lower bureaucracy from the ambit of the ombudsman, contrary to a Parliament resolution.
"The government proposes to remove CBI, judiciary, citizen charter, whistle blower protection, Group C and Group D employees and CBI from Lok Pal jurisdiction. Wouldn’t that reduce Lok Pal to an empty tin box with no powers and functions?" a Team Anna statement said.
The statement said Hazare suspended his fast in August on the basis of a resolution passed by Parliament which was termed as 'Sense of House' by some people but was referred to as a 'resolution' by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in his letter to the Gandhian.
"This resolution clearly stated that three issues would be addressed through the Lok Pal Bill namely Lokayuktas in states would be created through the same bill and lower bureaucracy and citizens charter would be included in the Lok Pal bill.
"However we are surprised that contrary to that resolution, the government proposes to exclude citizen charter and lower bureaucracy from Lok Pal's jurisdiction and bring a weak and ineffective bill to deal with citizens grievances," it said noting that the reports filtering out of Standing Committee discussions were a cause of concern.
