• The government has cleared three draft legislations to combat the menace of corruption and ensure transparency in public dealings.

  • These include Judicial Accountability Bill, Whistleblowers' Bill and Citizens' Charter Bill.

  •  The decision was taken in the Cabinet meeting chaired by the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh in New Delhi 

  • the Judicial Accountability Bill seeks to lay down judicial standards and provide for accountability of judges. It was introduced in the Lok Sabha last year. It was later sent to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel and Law and Justice.

  • A key recommendation of the committee that seeks to restrain judges from making unwarranted comments against other constitutional bodies or persons in courts has been accepted by the Government.

  • The Citizen's Charter, seeks to ensure the citizen's Right to Service and set up a grievance redressal mechanism. It envisages the stetting up of a Central Public Grievance Redressal Commission. The Whistleblowers Bill or the Public Interest Disclosure and Protection to Persons Making the Disclosures Bill seeks to protect RTI and other activists.

  • The Cabinet also discussed the National Food Security Bill, but reports suggest some UPA allies wanted to discuss some aspects of the bill further. This will now be brought up at a meeting next week. The Food Security Bill proposes an expenditure of 95,000 crore rupees for implementing the framework legislation on food security.

  • The draft Bill, seeks to cover upto 75 per cent of the rural population and 50 percent of urban households. It proposes right to 7 kg foodgrains per month per person, at three rupees per kg for rice, 2 rupees per kg for wheat and one rupee per kg for coarse grains to the priority beneficiaries.
 
Top