Anna Hazare to resume Lokpal agitation in Delhi

Veteran social activist Anna Hazare is planning to hold another agitation in New Delhi on December 11 to put pressure on the Union Government to speed up its work on the Lokpal Bill.

Hazare said he would hold a protest at Jantar Mantar if a strong Lokpal Bill is not passed in the ongoing winter session of Parliament.

"It all depends on the Parliamentary Standing Committee proposals. Anna is planning to sit on a protest in Jantar Mantar on December 11 depending on the Standing Committee recommendations," Press Trust of India quoted a senior Team Anna member saying.

The parliamentary panel on Lokpal Bill is likely to submit its report before December 7.

According to sources, Team Hazare is also seeking permission to protest at the Ramlila Maidan from December 27. The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), however, is yet to give its nod.

"We have approached Delhi Police, seeking permission for the day-long protest," a Team Anna member said.

The spokesperson of India Against Corruption (IAC) earlier said the MCD had given the go-ahead to Hazare and his associates to stage a demonstration at Ramlila ground from December 27 to January 5.

However, the MCD permission is reportedly subject to a no-objection certificate from the police.

Team Anna has been insisting that the lower bureaucracy, higher judiciary, provisions for Citizen Charter and setting up of Lokayuktas in state level be included in the ambit Lokpal Bill.

However, there are concerns among the members that the standing committee on law and justice may recommend keeping out the CBI, judiciary and the lower bureaucracy from the purview of Lokpal.

Anna Hazare was on a 12-day hunger strike in New Delhi in August this year, demanding the government enact a strong law to deal with corruption in India.

Hazare's movement attracted widespread media attention with thousands joining the 74-year-old social activist's public hunger strike and mass protest.