CHENNAI: A day after the Police denied permission to veteran social activist Anna Hazare to hold an indefinite hunger strike on the Lokpal Bill at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on August 16, his colleague Arvind Kejriwal was unfazed.At a press conference here on Saturday after launching a ‘referendum’ on the Lokpal Bill, Kejriwal said the August 16 agitation would be led by Hazare in New Delhi. He Alleged that the government’s draft Lokpal Bill is more like a ‘Dhokapal Bill’ as it does not cover any form of corruption. “The issue is not just confined to bringing in the PM and the judiciary within its ambit. The government is turning a blind eye to corruption at the gram panchayat and gram pradhan level, PDS shops, rural employment guarantee schemes and scams by not including them in the Bill,” he added.Kejriwal alleged that the Bill was targeted at people who spoke against corruption. “Corrupt have been spared but whistleblowers are under the ambit of Lokpal. If a complainant cannot prove charges, he is liable to serve jail time,” he saidThe RTI crusader said the civil society put forth 71 basic principles but the government accepted only 12 or 13, all of which deal with minor issues. He said the Bill was framed in secrecy without public consultation. It was expected to come up in Parliament on August 9.Urging residents of Chennai not to miss the last chance to raise their voice against corruption, he said the referendum will be carried out within the next 10 days with about a minimum of one lakh surveys at various public places. The referendum will have about 100 volunteers working to collect the survey data. For details call 7358251781/82.
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