GUWAHATI: Declaring himself as an anti-corruption crusader, Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi on Friday pledged to set up a citizens' charter in the state even if the Centre does not agree to this demand put forward by Anna Hazare in his Jan Lokpal Bill.
Making an appeal to Anna on behalf of people of the state to end his fast, he added that he would amend the State Lokayukta Act, which, he admitted, was full of flaws. But before doing so, he would wait for the outcome in New Delhi.
He said both the Centre and Anna should adopt a give and take policy, which he successfully used in the state to solve the problem of militancy. "There is corruption everywhere in the country and the whole issue is a complicated one. A give and take policy should be adopted as I have done to bring all militant outfits for talks. The Assam Agitation, the Mizo and Punjab accords have all been achieved through such a plan which culminated into discussions," added Gogoi.
He said, "What appears to me is that Team Anna wants the Jan Lokpal Bill to be passed and the government is saying that all suggestions would be given due consideration through discussions."
Parliament is discussing the last three major points of difference between Team Anna and the government, independent Lokpal institution at the Centre and Lokayukta on same model in each state, bringing all government servants (barring judicial officers) under Lokpal at the Centre and Lokayukta in state and making it mandatory for all government departments to make citizens charters.
Gogoi said, "We will introduce the citizens charter in the state even if the Centre does not agree to it. I admit the present Lokayukta Act in the state is full of flaws and we will amend this by empowering the Lokayukta to take up suo moto cases. But for this, I would want to wait for what the government decides at the Centre." Gogoi, however, blamed the people for not using the institution.
"We are concerned over Anna's health. We want him to end his fast. There is no difference with Anna Hazare as far as the fight against corruption is concerned. The issue of graft is a serious issue," said Gogoi. He added that he has tried to check corruption in the state. "E-governance and computerization are the two ways through which this can be done to a large extent," he said.
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