Pics: Spoorthi Ullal/Umesh Marpalli
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (DV/HB)

Mangaluru, Apr 4: RTI activist and founder of Samaja Parivarthana Samudaya (Community for Social Change) on Monday April 4 said that forming of Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) was a step in the backward direction and that chief minister Siddaramaiah would not survive in his position after 2018 if he continued to be so 'brazen'.

Replying to a question on the ACB during an interactive session organized by Citizens' Forum for Mangalore Development at Sahodaya hall here, he said, "The Karnataka Lokayukta is a watchdog, the most effective ombudsman in the entire country. The institution of Lokayukta was implemented in 1984 by the first non-Congress government. In 1983, the then government brought two revolutionary steps - the Karnataka Lokayukta Act and the Panchayat Raj. It is an independent body outside the ambit of the legislature and the executive, headed by chief justice of the high court or the Supreme Court. This cannot be compared to the ACB. Forming ACB is going back in time, it is setting the clock backwards. It is a retrograde and irresponsible step.

"Earlier we had a vigillance commission that hardly made a dent on corruption. It is foolhardy to expect anything from the ACB," he added.

"Opposition leaders like Jagadish Shettar did not oppose the order to form ACB in the Assembly, but later, they came out and started opposing. When they are given Constitutional powers in the Assembly, what were they doing? This is a definite conspiracy and we must fight against it.

"CM Siddaramaiah will not succeed if he is so brazen, shameless and ruthless. He may prolong in his present position for a while, at the most till 2018, but he has to go with anonymity just like Indira Gandhi in 1977, bringing bad name to himself, the party and the state," he said.

"Public opinion is so strong that even Prime Minister Narendra Modi had to withdraw the land ordinance. We should continue the fight against the ACB in the judiciary and say to the judiciary that the CM and law minister have been given great powers, so was it not their duty to go through the formulated order on ACB? Do they have power to form the ACB at all? My answer is - they do not. They have taken away the powers of the Lokayukta, which were given not by the executive but by the legislature under the Lokayukta Act section 15. The government could have amended it. They have no desire to go about it democratically. What is the hurry in forming the ACB - we should question this," he added.

Earlier, delivering a talk on 'Big projects, corruption and true nationalism', he said, "In democracy people are the final custodians. The elected representatives, chief justices, all IAS and IPS officers are public servants. People pay taxes, so they should not be made slaves by vested interests. There is political swaraj (empowerment) to a certain extent, but we need social and economic swaraj too.

"Imperialism is a curse to the society. There should be equality. Corporate powers which are the cause for the economic inequality should go. They focus only on profit and shares and there is no humanity. For economic swaraj, cooperatives are the alternatives, and the best examples for this are Amul and KMF. Capitalism increases inequality. We have Narendra Modi sitting near Gautam Adani and when Deve Gowda was the PM, he was close to Ambani - this is the nexus of power that ruins the power of the state," he said.

"The union government gives subsidies of Rs 5.5 lac crore to corporates. The public should stop feeding these white elephants. When such a huge subsidy can be give to corporates, at least Rs one lac crore can be used for the development of rural areas," he added.

"There is corruption in big projects. There is discrimination too. The person who sacrifices his land is displaced to urban slums. Our government has specific no number on people displaced by big projects. Even to this day, displaced people of Bakra Nangal and Sharavati projects have not been rehabilitated," he said.

To a question on the MRPL land acquisition, he said, "It was done under the 1884 Act of the British era. These are colonial laws. In a democratic country, people are the sovereign and they must be treated with respect and dignity. The government's ability to acquire land should be questioned. In the first and second phases 18,000 acres was acquired, then 18,000 acres for SEZ, and now another 1,050 acres is being acquired. We should question how much of the acquired land is used before the acquisition of new land. We should oppose this. People of Tulunadu should get at least employment from these projects."

Though the topic included the subject of nationalism also, Hiremath did not speak on it.

Udupi

Speaking to media persons in an interactive session at Brahmagiri here, S R Hiremath said that he has sent a letter to the Congress president Sonia Gandhi pointing out 'mistakes' made by the Karnataka state government.

"Congress president Sonia Gandhi should order the withdrawal of Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB). She has the power to remove chief minister Siddharamaiah from his position, if necessary as he is responsible for all the uproar on the issue. She should ask him to work towards strengthening the Lokayukta and withdraw the ACB," Hiremath said.

"The CM should reveal the truth behind forming ACB in the state. I had worked with Kota Shivaram Karanth for fifteen days, and I got inspired by him in fighting corruption and corrupt administration," said Hiremath, adding, "The CM is cheating the people by appointing ACB in the name of tackling corruption."

On the PU question paper leak, Hiremath said, "The education minister (Kimmane Ratnakar) has no knowledge about the concept of education itself. Nowadays, examination has lost its sanctity. The minister should have woken up when the question paper leak happened the first time, but even the second time he does not take any stern action against the concerned. He should have resigned from his post immediately after the question paper leaked.

Commenting on the JNU incident and the Rohith Vemula suicide case, he said, "HRD minister Smriti Irani is directly responsible for Rohith Vemula's suicide, as the fellowship was stopped bcause of her.

"ABVP is portraying the Dalit community as 'anti-nationalist'. It is portraying itself as an anti-Dalits organization. There was no need for calling the police to the JNU campus. The problem could have been solved in the initial stage itself rather letting it worsen," he said.