Patna, Apr 11: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today said he humbly acknowledged the appreciation for his works by Gandhian Anna Hazare as a word of appreciation for doing good work boosts one's morale.
"I acknowledge Hazare's gesture with all humility... a word of appreciation for delivering good works rather boosts up one's morale and is source of inspiration," Kumar told reporters on the sidelines of his 'Janata Darbar' programme.
Lending full support to the demand of the veteran social activist for enacting a Right to Recall Act seeking recall of public representatives, Kumar said it was one of the important demands raised during the movement spearheaded by late Jayaprakash Narayan.
"But the erstwhile Janata party government had dubbed it as 'impractical'... This issue has been raised after 30 years... and it needs to be debated," he said.
Kumar said people's verdict remains 'sovereign' in a democratic set-up and if public representatives failed to come up to the expectations there was a need for a law seeking to recall them.
"The democracy in India is ripe at this stage and thus such demands are being raised now," he remarked.
Kumar referred to his government's having brought a Right to Recall bill "which was passed by the two Houses of the state Legislature recently."
Pledging to fight corruption, the chief minister said the state government had enacted a Bihar Special Court Act to deal with corrupt officials and public servants and had also taken initiative against graft by ensuring passage of the Right to Service Act.
The Right to Service law in Bihar to eradicate corruption was likely to come into force in Bihar from August 15, 2011, he informed.
Asked whether he would make any suggestion to the joint committee on drafting the Lokpal bill, the chief minister said "it will be premature to anticipate anything on the matter."
"It is a fluid situation... Let the draft be circulated first then we will like to make comment or suggestions," he said.
To another question, the chief minister said the controversy over the application of electronic voting machines (EVMs) in polls must be left to the discretion of the Election Commission.
"The basic issue is to ensure conduct of free and fair elections at all level," he pointed out. PTI
