Punjab Lokpal received only 40 complaints in past 10 years
30 Mar, 2013The reply to an application filed under the Right to Information (RTI) Act has revealed that the office of Lokpal of Punjab has received merely 40 complaints in last ten years. The reply states that the Lokpal received 361 complaints in 2002 but for next three years no complaints were received by the Lokpal. Thereafter, the Lokpal received 12 complaints in 2006, three complaints in 2007 and just one complaint in 2008. The numbers of 2009 to 2012 stand at five, six, eleven and two respectively. The average comes to be just about 4 complaints every year. However, the annual expense of the Lokpal office, which was Rs. 1.51 crore in 2003, increased to over Rs. 20 crore in 2008 and has remained more or less constant since then.
A lack of awareness of the provisions has been attributed for such low number of complaints. Further, the analysts have claimed that the reason of decline in complaints to the Lokpal is that it is a toothless body which can make only recommendations and has virtually no executing authority.
Complaint could be made to lokpal against the Chief Minister, Dy CM, ministers, parliamentary secretaries, MLAs, chairperson or member of a board under central of state sector in a company where state government has stakes above 50%, mayors, deputy mayors and zila parishad chairmen/vice-chairmen.