LOKPAL

Description

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Context: According to an official report, Lokpal closes 68% of corruption charges against officers without taking action.

Highlights of the report

The Lokpal, the country's first anti-corruption agency established four years ago to examine accusations against public servants, including the Prime Minister, stated to a parliamentary panel that "it has not prosecuted even a single individual accused of the graft to date."
According to statistics presented by the Lokpal office to a parliamentary panel on the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), the anti-corruption agency received 8,703 complaints in 2019-20, of which 5,981 were disposed of.
- As many as 6,775 complaints were rejected because they were not submitted in the proper manner. According to the office, just three complaints were fully examined, while 36 were in the preliminary stage.
- In 2022-23, 2,760 complaints were submitted, with just 242 being in the prescribed format.
On 5th January 2023, Lokpal issued an order stating that complaints received by the office that was not in the correct format would no longer be considered at any level.

Keywords

Parliamentary Panel

A Parliamentary Panel is a group of Members of Parliament (MPs) who are appointed, elected, or nominated by the Speaker or Chairperson and serve at the discretion of the Speaker or Chairperson.
Parliamentary Panels often come in two types: standing committees and ad hoc committees. The former is permanent and functions continually (formed annually or regularly), whilst the latter is transient and vanishes after the task given to them.

Must Read Articles:

Lokpal and Lokayukta: https://www.iasgyan.in/daily-current-affairs/lokpal-and-lokayukta

PRACTICE QUESTION

Q. Consider the following Statement about the Lokpal;

1. Lokpal is headed by the Chief Justice of the High Court.

2. The Lokpal consists of a Chairperson with a maximum of 10 members of which 50% shall be judicial members.

3. The Lokpal Jurisdictions cover the Prime Minister of India.

Which of the following Statement is/are incorrect?

(A) 1 and 2 only

(B) 2 and 3 only

(D) 1, 2 and 3

Answer: A

Explanation:

Statement 1 is incorrect: Lokpal is headed by the Chief Justice of India or a retired judge.

Statement 2 is incorrect: The Lokpal consists of a Chairperson with a maximum of 8 members of which 50% shall be judicial members. 50% of the members of the Lokpal shall come from amongst the SCs, the STs, the OBCs, minorities and women.

Statement 3 is correct: The Lokpal Jurisdictions cover the Prime Minister, Ministers, Members of Parliament and Groups A, B, C and D officers and officials of the Central Government.