Ranchi:
Former president APJ Abdul Kalam has said that the creation of a Lokpal or national ombudsman will not help curb corruption.
"What Lokpal will do is if it finds anyone guilty it would put them in jail, and jails will be filled up. What we want is nobody should go to jail ... as we want good human beings," Dr Kalam said in Ranchi today while interacting with children.
Activist Anna Hazare and aides like former police officer Kiran Bedi have been campaigning aggressively for an anti-corruption Lokpal Bill which would create an ombudsman agency at the Centre and at states. The Lokpal would have the authority to investigate complaints of graft against elected representatives and bureaucrats.
On twitter, Ms Bedi responded to Dr Kalam's comments. She wrote: "Dr Kalam takes socio-moral route to root out corruption. Effective system is a fusion of educating-prevention+effective legal deterrence!"
Some political parties including the BJP have been debating backing Dr Kalam for a new term as President. The election for President will be held in July when Pratibha Patil's term expires. The BJP's Sushma Swaraj said this week that her party would support Mr Kalam if he is endorsed by the Samajwadi Party, which is headed by Mulayam Singh Yadav. The Congress, which leads the UPA coalition at the Centre, is seeking consensus among its partners to decide on its candidate. Its top choices are Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and vice-president of the country, Hamid Ansari.