India needs a credible deterrent to corruption, no parallel government: Hazare

With the final round of discussions over the draft Lokpal bill ending in failure, social activist Anna Hazare today sharpened his criticism on the politician-bureaucrat nexus that tends to grow corruption, saying the common man in the country is demanding a credible deterrent against corruption and not a parallel government.

Addressing a press conference after the meeting, he refuted the government's charge of trying to float a parallel government, saying, "We don't want a parallel government. We want an autonomous Lokpal on the lines of the Election Commission and the Supreme Court, which are out of the government's direct control."

He said the government members on the Lokpal bill drafting committee was trying to divert people's attention from the main issue of rampant corruption by bringing in issues like "parallel government."

Hazare said the politician-bureaucrat nexus is a bigger threat to the country than a terrorist-driven Pakistan.

He doubted government's interest in curbing rampant corruption in the country, saying, "Why is the government not agreeing to bring CBI and other investigative agencies under Lokpal's ambit? It seems government is not serious about corruption."

He said corruption could be effectively dealt with only if the whole bureaucracy and the elected representatives of the people are brought under Lokpal's ambit.

Either the government lacks the will power to deal with corrupt administration or it didn't want to end corruption in the country, he said.