In a clear shift of focus for now, veteran social activist, Mr Anna Hazare, on Thursday called for a law to empower ‘gram sabhas' (village councils) so that they are above Parliament.
In a video message, Mr Hazare said another agitation will be launched for this law. “People will have to be ready for a big agitation like the one for Jan Lokpal Bill if the Government does not bring a law for empowering village sabhas,” he said.
He decried the failure of Rajya Sabha to pass the the Lokpal Bill and did not spare Lok Sabha either. “Lok Sabha thinks it is above everyone. This is wrong. People have made you. So they are above you...It is the sacred temple of democracy,” he said in his address to a seminar, ‘Rebuilding the Republic', organised by Team Anna here on the occasion of Republic Day. The video message has also been posted on YouTube.
In the half-hour-long recorded message, Mr Hazare placed the gram sabhas at the highest pedestal. “Assemblies and Lok Sabha think that they are above gram sabhas. But gram sabhas are above you.” He added that there should be provisions in the new law that a panchayat can be dismissed if it spends money without the consent of a gram sabha.
Raking up the issue of land acquisition, Mr Hazare criticised the acquisition process for Special Economic Zones. “The owners in the villages and the village sabhas do not know when the Government acquires their land straightaway without their permission”.
He said if the Government does not bring a law, “we will have to organise an agitation similar to the August 16 (Ramlila Maidan) agitation for a strong Lokpal Bill.