Mayawati slams drafting panel of Jan Lokpal bill

Lucknow: The Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Mayawati, slammed the Central government and civil society on Friday for not including any backward class members to the Jan Lokpal bill drafting committee. She also made a demand that the joint committee be reconstituted and members from backward classes be added to the new committee.

Mayawati said, "civil society and the Central government didn't seem it fit to include any backward classes members to be a part of the Jan Lokpal bill. We demand to the Central government that members of backward classes to be included in the Jan Lokpal bill and that the committee be reconstituted."

Slamming the drafting committee, Mayawati said that even when the Constitution of India was being drafted all castes and sections of society were considered a part of the drafting committee unlike in the case of the drafting committee of the Jan Lokpal bill.

Mayawati got upset over the fact that none of the 10 members of the Jan Lokpal bill draft committee belong to backward classes. She also said that Anna Hazare should have included members from the backward classes in the list of civil society members.

"Anna Hazare belongs to Maharashtra, where most of the moments to give rights to backward classes have started off. Anna Hazare should have thought of including members of backward classes into Jan Lokpal draft committee," she added.

Mayawati, however, mentioned that the reconstituted drafting committee should have members of backward classes who have no political background, and should be entirely from civil society itself.

"The backward class member should not have any political background," she said.

The current Jan Lokpal committee consists of ten members, five members and five representatives of the civil society. It includes Anna Hazare himself, but not as a chairman, lawyers Shanti Bhushan and Prashant Bhushan, anti-corruption activist Arvind Kejriwal and former Supreme Court judge Santosh Hegde.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee is the Chairman of the committee that also includes Law Minister Veerappa Moily, Telecom Minister Sibal, Home Minister P Chidambaram and Water Resources Minister Salman Khurshid as members.