Centre has initiated dialogue process with Team Anna: Rawat

Dehradun, Aug 22: The Centre has initiated a dialogue process with Team Anna at various levels to break the deadlock over the Lokpal issue, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Harish Rawat said on Sunday.

"The dialogue process has already been initiated at various levels through well-wishers. This dialogue is at various levels which is not parallel to each other but complementary," Rawat told PTI here.

The minister said he had high regards for Anna Hazare and his team and expressed hope that a solution would emerge shortly. Rawat also also appealed to Hazare to understand the "constitutional limits" of the government.

He said the Lokpal Bill was before the Standing Committee of Parliament and it was very difficult to fix a timeframe for its clearance. In this regard, he said suggestions can be put before the Committee in order to incorporate them into the bill.

Rawat cited the example of RTI Bill where suggestions were incorporated in the standing committee stage itself.

"We are are in favour of bringing Lokpal Bill on the lines of RTI bill where nearly 160 amendments were carried by the standing committee," Rawat said.

Similarly, suggestions of Team Anna can be incorporated in the bill, he said.

"The final objective of Anna and the Centre is the same as the main fight is against corruption. When the objective is the same, there should be no differences also," he emphasised.

PTI