Citizen's charter should be under Lokpal: Anna

Anti-corruption activist Anna Hazare on Wednesday said the passage of the Grievances Redressal Bill, 2011, is a violation of the sense of the house and is not acceptable to his activists.

Anti-corruption activist Anna Hazare on Wednesday said the passage of the Grievances Redressal Bill, 2011, is a violation of the sense of the house and is not acceptable to his activists.

"When I was sitting on a fast at Ramlila ground, the prime minister appealed to me to take it back on some conditions, including that the citizen's charter will be under the Lokpal.

But now the government has passed a new law which is a violation of the sense of the house," Hazare told reporters in New Delhi.

He congratulated West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee for her tough stand on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in retail that forced the government to put it on hold.

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"I request her to take up the issue of a strong Lokpal Bill," he said.

The cabinet, at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Tuesday approved the Judicial Standards and Accountability Bill, the Grievances Redressal Bill and the Whistleblowers' Bill.

The Grievances Redress Bill, 2011, seeks to check graft in lower levels of administration and set standards for time-bound public service and grievance redressal from panchayats to government departments.

The three bills were cleared even as Hazare has demanded that grievance redressal should be part of the Lokpal Bill and the judiciary should also be brought in the ambit of the anti-graft ombudsman.

Hazare has said he would launch another agitation at the Ramlila ground from Dec 27 if his version of the Lokpal Bill was not passed by parliament in the ongoing winter session.