Talks on Lokpal yielded substantial results: Swami Agnivesh

Noted social worker Swami Agnivesh differed with Prashant Bhushan and Arvind Kejiriwal -- members of the civil society on the Lokpal Bill drafting panel -- that the talks with the government failed to yield substantial results.

Swami Agnivesh told rediff.com that it is wrong to say that negotiations are back to square one.

In response to a question on why social activist Anna Hazare has announced to sit on dharna again, indicating that the civil society team was bitter about the outcome of the talks, Agnivesh said that in his view the team had achieved a great deal.

"Although Anna Hazare feels that the government is interested in a toothless bill I personally feel that one should look at the positive side of it. I was speaking to Prashant Bhushan on Tuesday night and told him why not look at the gains. I would say that instead of projecting the glass as empty I would say the glass is more then half full," Agnivesh said.

According to him the biggest gain is making the country aware of the growing corruption in the administration. "Do you remember the issue of corruption ever being discussed so widely by the entire nation?," he asked.

Listing out the achievements made the social activist said the government has agreed to do away with sanctioning permission to act against corrupt government officials. "Government has agreed to ten years imprisonment for corrupt officials though we wanted life imprisonment," he said.

When asked why they were pressing for inclusion of prime minister under the Lokpal ambit when there are enough provisions to prosecute the prime minister under the existing law, Agnivesh said that though the Central Bureau of Investigation can investigate the PM the problem is that it comes under his direct charge.

"Why can't the government agree to make the CBI a totally autonomous body," he asked.

Shanti Bhushan, former minister for law and justice, and his son Prashant Bhushan, have left for the United States and will be back in India on July 6. "We will start talking to political parties after they come back," Agnivesh said.