Government sets up joint panel to draft Lokpal Bill

The government has seized the initiative and issued a notification constituting a 10-member joint drafting committee to prepare a draft of the Lokpal Bill. The committee will have five nominee ministers of the Government of India and five nominees of Anna Hazare, including himself.

The agreement to combat corruption augurs well for democracy, prime minister Manmohan Singh said after the Gazette notification on the constitution of the joint drafting committee. He said the government intended to introduce the Lokpal Bill in Parliament during the monsoon session.

The five government nominee ministers include finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, home minister P Chidambaram, law minister Veerappa Moily, HRD, telecom and IT minister Kapil Sibal and water resources and minority affairs minister Salman Khursheed.

The five nominees of the civil society include Anna Hazare, Justice N Santosh Hedge, Senior Advocate Shanti Bhushan, Advocate Prashant Bhushan and civil activist Arvind Kejriwal.

Pranab Mukherjee will be the chairperson of the joint drafting committee while Shanti Bhushan will be its co-chairperson.

Law minister Veerappa Moily will be the convener of the joint drafting committee.