New Delhi, May 31 (IANS) Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Tuesday said he has urged yoga guru Baba Ramdev not to go ahead with his hunger strike from June 4 and assured him that the government was tackling the problem of corruption and black money with all its resources.
Speaking to reporters here, Manmohan Singh said that he welcomed the suggestions of Baba Ramdev and agreed that corruption was a big problem.
‘This is not a personal issue. We all agree with Ramdev that corruption is a big problem and that we are committed to tackle it with all the resources at our disposal,’ he said.
The prime minister said that he had written to Ramdev asking him to ‘reverse your decision to go on a hunger strike unto death’.
‘We hope Ramdev will recognise that we are sincere and serious about tackling corruption,’ he said.
He added that the government will work with Baba Ramdev ‘earnestly in finding a practical and pragmatic solution to the problem’.
‘The question is what is possible way and what is feasible. There are laws,’ Manmohan Singh said.
He, however, did not directly answer the question whether his office should be brought under the ambit of the Lokpal Bill.
Earlier in the day, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Nitin Gadkari wrote to the prime minister to ‘intervene and accept’ the demands of Ramdev, who has sought that black money stashed abroad by Indians be brought back to the country.
Calling Ramdev the ‘rock star’ of yoga, Gadkari said that government should ‘procure the list of Indians who have parked their money abroad’.
The prime minister’s remarks also came as Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee wrote to all the chief ministers and leaders of political parties to get their views on the proposed Lokpal Bill.
This was as per the decision taken by the joint drafting committee Monday, Home Minister P. Chidambaram told reporters.
The letters contained questions on several issues including whether the prime minister and the higher judiciary should be brought under the purview of the Lokpal, whether the bill should deal with only the Lokpal (at the centre) or also the Lokayuktas (in the states).
Though there might not have been any unanimity in all the issues Tuesday, the discussions were constructive, Chidambaram added.
The joint drafting committee was formed after a a 97-hour fast by social reformer Anna Hazare at Janatar Mantar here in April.
The committee comprises five central ministers and five representatives of the civil society.
