Anna Hazare to boycott lokpal panel meeting

Anna Hazare and his team of civil society members in the lokpal bill joint drafting committee will boycott the next meeting to be held today, the activist said in New Delhi.

Anna Hazare and his team of civil society members in the lokpal bill joint drafting committee will boycott the next meeting to be held June 6, the activist said in New Delhi on Sunday.

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"Government is not serious about drafting an effective lokpal bill. There are issues of disagreement between the government and the draft committee," Hazare said.

Apart from Hazare, civil society members in the committee include activist Arvind Kejriwal, former Supreme Court judge Santosh Hegde, former law minister Shanti Bhushan, who is the panel's co-chairman, and his son Prashant Bhushan.

From the government's side, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee is the co-chairman and the other members are home minister P Chidambaram, human resource development minister Kapil Sibal, law minister M Veerappa Moily and minority affairs minister Salman Khurshid.

The panel was set up after Hazare went on a fast at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi in April.