Dehra Dun: Observing that absence of the Lokpal at the Centre is negatively affecting the working of Lokayuktas at the State level, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today (Sep 29, 2004) called for urgently enacting a Bill for this and said his Government has taken steps to reform the administration.

"I have no hesitation in saying and even confessing that absence of an institution such as Lokpal at the Centre is to some extent negatively affecting the working of the Lokayuktas institutions at the State level," Singh said in his valedictory address to the 8th All India Conference of Lokayuktas in Dehra Dun.

"The need for this institution is therefore much more urgent at present than ever before," he said.

Singh also said that there was a broad consensus on bringing the post of Prime Minister under the purview of the Lokpals.

However, Singh did not make any categorical statement whether the office of the Prime Minister be brought under the purview of the Lokpal as being suggested in the political debates in the recent past.

"There is a broad agreement that public functionaries directly or indirectly elected by and responsible to the people such as Members of Parliaments (MPs) and Ministers, including the Prime Minister, should be brought within the purview of the legislation," he said.

Singh's comments came two days after President A P J Abdul Kalam called for bringing the office of the President under the gambit of Lokpal.

However, Singh did not mention this issue in his speech.

The Prime Minister said the UPA (United Progressive Alliance) Government has got the mandate on the Common Minimum Programme (CMP) to enact the Lokpal Bill. "In India, this institution (Lokayukta) has been found useful at the State level, we have to replicate it at the national level by enacting appropriate legislation," he said.

Maintaining that the UPA Government was committed to give a stable, honest, transparent and efficient Government, he said his Government was committed to the implementation of the Freedom of the Information act.

"We will also accelerate measures to improve the quality of public service through the introduction of citizens charters, facilitation counters in ministries and departments and simplification of rules and procedures," he said.

Recalling that successive Lokayukta conferences have demanded Constitutional status to these institutions on the pattern of Election Commission and CAG (Comptroller and Auditor General), he cautioned that before granting such status there was a need to assess the performance of these institutions.