After President A P J Abdul Kalam offered to bring himself under the purview of the Lok Pal, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday said there is a broad agreement that public functionaries, including the prime minister, should be brought within the ambit of the proposed law.
"The current consensus is by and large in favour of a multi-member institution with quasi-judicial powers. There is also a broad agreement that public functionaries directly and indirectly elected by and responsible to the public such as members of Parliament and ministers, including the prime minister, should be brought within the purview of the Lok Pal
legislation,"
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he said.
Singh was speaking at the All India Conference of Lokayuktas and Uplokayuktas organised by the All India Association of Lokayuktas in New Delhi.
"We shall take effective action in this regard without any further loss of time," he said.
"I have no hesitation in saying -- and even confessing -- that the absence of an institution such as the Lok Pal at the Centre is to some extent negatively affecting the working of the Lokayukta institutions at the state level," he said.
