HALDWANI: Corruption crusader Anna Hazare on Monday announced that he would sit on a protest in New Delhi’s Ramlila Ground from March 23. The activist was in Haldwani and held meetings with local activists.
Invoking Mahatma Gandhi, the social activist said that it will be a ‘Do or Die’ movement for a strong Jan Lokpal bill, farmer’s pension and electoral reforms.
The 80-year-old activist said, “We will be starting protests in Delhi and won’t stop until the country gets a strong lokpal bill to prevent corruption. I have written almost 30 letters to our Prime Minister and the Supreme Court has also lambasted the Center two times in the past four years but to no avail. Nothing has been done in the past years to bring a strong lokpal bill.”
He also demanded that the government should pass the pending ‘Kisaan Pension Bill’ in Parliament to enable pension for farmers who have no other means of income other than agriculture.
“This government is not worried about farmers and is only bothered about the well-being of industrialist. In the past 22 years, 12 lakh farmers have committed suicide which is a failure of successive governments,” he added.
He also advocated for the ‘Right to Recall’ in electoral reforms. Launching a scathing attack on the Center, the activist said that this government only cares about industrialists and neglects the dying farmers.
He condemned both the Congress and the BJP rule at the Center and alleged that one ‘Doctorate’ and another ‘Graduate’ Prime Minister weakened the Lokpal laws.