New Organisation in Kerala to Form Ward-level Committees to Fight Graft

 

by Sucheth P R

18 March 2013

Kannur: Anti-corruption People’s Movement, an organisation formed to energise Anna Hazare's  'India Against Corruption' movement, will set up committees in all wards of the state, its state vice-chairman John Joseph has said. He was addressing a gathering of the organisation's activists at the Jawahar Library Auditorium here on Sunday.
  “People can approach the groups to be formed in villages with complaints regarding corruption at any level. The groups will help them use the provisions of the law against corruption, including the Right to Information Act. The Corruption Solution Cell run by the state committee of the movement in Kochi aided by three Kerala High Court advocates will provide free legal assistance in all cases. About 400 advocates are also offering monetary assistance to the movement,” Joseph said.
    The committee can also initiate mediation talks in complicated issues concerning property and consumer products. The organisation also has plans to identify corruption-free bureaucrats and form a coordination of such officials in all government offices in the state. However, the representatives of the movement in Kannur said that it would be extremely difficult for ward-level groups to function in the district. The prevailing situation in the district is that any voice of opposition beyond the interests of main-stream political parties will be defeated and suppressed here, M V Mathew, Ranjith Sarkar and Pavithran Kotheri, the district coordinators of the organisation, said. “The people who come forward against illegal activities will be personally targeted. Because of this many social and cultural organisations faced premature death in the district. The political and social scenario in Kannur cannot be compared with other districts, so the direct intervention of the state committee would be necessary for the smooth functioning of the movement here,” they added.
   T R Sadananda Bhat, general convener of the Anti-corruption People’s Movement, said that a name different from that of Hazare’s movement was given to the organisation as it was concentrating more on corruption at the state level. Following the intervention of the movement, the State government had issued a circular making acknowledgement receipt mandatory for all applications and complaints submitted at government offices. “Chief Minister Oommen Chandy who attended the state meet of the organisation himself had taken the initiative for such a notification. However, most of the office heads are hesitating to implement that order,” Bhat said. He added that there was a joint effort from the part of political parties and bureaucrats to weaken the provisions of the Right to Information Act. Many services are exempted from the ambit of the much acclaimed Right to Services Act implemented in the state, whereas it has better teeth in many other states. Organised effort against corruption with better legal assistance is the motto of the movement, he added.
The New Indian Express