A movement led by India's most prominent civil society leaders is pushing for new legislation to tackle corruption after a swirl of scandals rocked the country
NEW DELHI (TrustLaw) - A group of India's most prominent and popular civil society leaders have joined forces to push for new legislation to tackle graft after a series of major corruption scandals involving senior government officials rocked the country.
The India Against Corruption movement has brought together spiritual and religious leaders, activists, judges, national athletes, writers and socialites to support a new draft bill, which they say will plug loopholes in the country's anti-corruption system.
In recent weeks, four major scandals have dominated the headlines, including a telecoms licence scandal which may have cost India a staggering $39 billion in lost revenue - equivalent to the defence budget. The state auditor said in a report last month that the telecoms ministry gave out lucrative licences and radio spectrum in 2007/08 at below-market prices.
Nita Bhalla spoke to Kiran Bedi, a former senior police officer and prominent social activist about the new movement - which includes spiritual leaders such as Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and Swami Ramdev, activists like Anna Hazare and Arvind Kejriwal as well as the Archbishop of Delhi, Vincent Concessao and gold-medallist marathon runner Sunita Godara - about why they have started this movement.
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