Demanding immediate cancellation of the 2-G spectrum allocations, recovery of the Himalayan loss the exchequer has suffered and institution of a strong anti-corruption commission, students and youth will be flooding the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) with post cards, e-mails, faxes and one-rupee money orders beginning November 26.
Announcing the action plan at a media conference here on Wednesday, Lok Satta Party president Jayaprakash Narayan called upon the youth and students to transcend party affiliations and raise their voice against corruption, which undermined their hopes for a better future.
Dr Narayan said India has earned the dubious distinction of recording the biggest scam in world history in one Government wing in one year. Going by the Comptroller and Auditor General’s report, the loss sustained by the exchequer could be as large as Rs 1,76,000 crore. Had the Government earned such colossal revenue, it would have been sufficient to build 5 million classrooms or 20 million homes or add 8 million hospital beds.
The former IAS officer has regretted that all mainstream political parties focused on peripheral issues like appointment of a Joint Parliamentary Committee instead of pondering how the loss caused by collusive corruption could be recouped. They were guilty of obfuscating the issue by pitting tainted Telecommunications Minister Mr A Raja against scam-ridden Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yedyurappa, and indulging in mutual mud-slinging.
The LSP chief pointed out that the Indian exchequer had been robbed in broad daylight with politicians and bureaucrats resorting to dubious, opaque and illegal means to reward a select band of rapacious operators. By cancelling the tainted licenses and disgorging the beneficiaries of their windfall gains, the Government should send a strong message that those who cheat the Government would not merely lose their social standing but also go bankrupt.
He announced that Lok Satta, along with a number of highly credible individuals would be filing a petition in the Supreme Court on November 29 seeking cancellation of 2-G spectrum licenses. He released a poster titled National Campaign against Corruption as also a pamphlet on the 2-G spectrum scam.
Party General Secretary Katari Srinivasa Rao announced the campaign would be continued until December 9, World Anti Corruption Day.
Dr Narayan himself would send a memorandum to the Prime Minister listing the three demands on the scam on November 26. A public walk and a meeting would be organized at Visakhapatnam as a culmination.
Replying to questions, the LSP chief said that the Bihar verdict, as the earlier ones in Gujarat, Delhi, MP and Chhattisgarh, demonstrates that people would vote back a party to power if it provides relatively better governance. He appealed to the State Government and the agitating employees to enter into a dialogue and sort out their problems. Dr Narayan condemned attacks on ‘Sakshi’ offices as unwarranted in a democracy.
Party working president DVVS Varma, and Yuva Satta and Vidyarthi Satta leaders D Ramu, P Sivaji, Naveen Kumar Sarma and Mangala took part in the media meet.