What is Jan Lokpal bill? Jan lokpal bill means Citizen's Ombudsman bill.

It is a new anti-corruption bill which creates an independent commission which has the power to prosecute politicians and bureaucrats without the permission of the government. Ombudsman refers to a person who acts as an intermediary between an organization and a constituency for the scope of constitutional interests.

Who started the movement for Jan Lokpal bill?

The movement was started by a group of people drafted by 1.Justice Santosh Hegde (former Supreme Court Judge and present Lokayukta of Karnataka), 2.Prashant Bhushan (Supreme Court Lawyer) 3.Arvind Kejriwal (RTI activist), 4.Former IPS Kiran Bedi, 5.Shanti Bhushan.

The movement was started because of corruptions in huge levels such as the Himalayan 2G spectrum scam, Commonwealth games scam and Adarsh Housing scam etc. Important features of the Jan Lokpal bill:
1.The commission will be entirely independent so that no government officials or bureaucrats can influence any investigations. The Jan lokpal committee can take action against any public servant which includes the Prime minister,a minister, a member of the parliament, judges of high courts and supreme courts and government servants. 2. Lokpal institute in the center and Lokyukta in 18 states will be set up. 3.Any corrupt official will be sent to prison within two years. The investigations of the cases should be completed within one year and trial of the case will be completed within another year. So corrupt people will be unable to prolong the case for a long time. 4. During the time of conviction the government will recover the money lost from the corrupt person . 5.If the government official doesn't complete his work within the prescribed time the guilty official will be penalized and the money will go to the person who filed the complaint. 6.The members of the Jan Lokpal will be selected by the citizens, judges and constitutional authorities. It ensures that no politician will involve in the selection of the Jan Lokpal members.

7.The functioning of the Jan lokpal commission will be transparent. If any official in the lokpal committee becomes corrupt he will be prosecuted and he will be excluded from the committee within two months. 8. Incase of voter id card, ration card or passport or a police FIR has not been made within the prescribed time you can file a complaint to the Jan Lokpal committee and the problem will be sorted out within a month. 9.Anti-corruption agencies such as CVC and anti-corruption branch of CBI will be merged into Lokpal. The Lokpal committee will protect people who report against corruption who faces threat of physical or professional harms. 10.The Jan lokpal bill overcomes the drawbacks from the government proposed 2010 draft lokpal bill.

Lokpal Committee:
The institution consists of one chairperson and ten other members. The institute is headed by the chairperson. The chairperson might be removed from his office only under the order of the President. The chairperson is responsible for the functioning of the Jan Lokpal committee. The chairperson holds the post for a term of five years.

Conditions for becoming a chairperson:

1.The chairperson should not be a former member of parliament or former legislature of any state. 2.He/she should not hold any office of profit. 3.The chairperson should not be below 40 years. 4.The chairperson should not have been chargesheeted for any offence.

Government lokpal bills :

The government lokpal bills was passed in lok sabha in 1969 but they could not pass through Rajya Sabha. They got revived in 1971, 1977, 1985, 1989, 1996, 1998, 2001, 2005 and in 2008 but they were not passed and the bills were pending.