Hyderabad Youth For Lokpal Bill

The increasing concern of youth over the rampant corruption prevalent in the country can be gauged by their presence in a massive rally taken out on Necklace Road on Sunday to coincide with Martyrs Day, the death anniversary of the Father Of The Nation, Mahatma Gandhi.

The call for the anti-corruption rally was given by Youth For Better India, in which a large number of youth and citizens participated.

Prominent among the participants were former Chief Election Commissioner JM Lyngdoh, doctor-turned-bureaucrat-turned-politician Jayaprakash Narayan, physician K S Ratnakar and noted Telugu film director Raja Mouli. Yoga guru Baba Ramdev's followers and activists of several NGOs were also among the participants.

Carrying placards and banners with anti-corruption slogans written across them, the rallyists demanded that the Lokpal Bill be passed in the Parliament.

Many of the youth donned t-shirts on which slogans like 'India Stand Against Corruption' and 'It is your Money' were written.

The Lokpal Bill, if passed and made into law, would enable citizens to file cases against the Prime Minister, his Cabinet colleagues and MPs, not to mention the state governments, for corruption.

Noted film director Raja Mouli stressed on this point, and said that if elected representatives and cabinet ministers were brought under the purview of the bill, then this would go a long way in curbing corruption. He said, "The proposed bill should bring the ministers under its purview and give the Lokpal the powers to prosecute and punish all those involved in corruption."

The leaders pointed out that while the scale of public money misappropriated had grown by leaps and bound, the guilty were rarely punished. The 2G spectrum scam in which the exchequer made an estimated loss of Rs. 1.7 lakh crore, the black money stashed away in foreign banks and the Adarsh Society Housing scam had fuelled public anger, the participants said.

This was evident by the number of youth, consisting of career professionals and college students, who participated in the rally.

The participants also demanded that an autonomous body be set up to investigate corruption charges against politicians, bureaucrats and judge, and prosecute them.

The rally was a response to a nation-wide call to support the Lokpal Bill.

Courtesy: INN