The Jan Lokpal Bill (Hindi: जन लोकपाल विधेयक), also referred to as the citizens' ombudsman bill, is a proposed anti-corruption law in India. It is designed to effectively deter corruption, redress grievances of citizens and protect whistle-blowers. If passed and made into law, the bill seeks to create an ombudsman called the Lokpal (Sanskrit for protector of the people) - an independent body similar to the Election Commission of India with the power to investigate politicians and bureaucrats without prior government permission. First introduced in 1969, the bill has failed to become law for nearly over four decades.
In 2011, Gandhian rights activist Anna Hazare started a Satyagraha movement by commencing a fast unto death in New Delhi to demand the passing of the bill. The movement attracted attention in the media, and thousands of supporters. Following Hazare's four day hunger strike, the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh stated that the bill would be re-introduced in the 2011 monsoon session of the Parliament.
Attempts to draft a compromise bill, merging the Government's version and that of the civil group's version, by a committee of five Cabinet Ministers and five social activists failed. The Indian government introduced its own version of the bill in the parliament, which the activists consider to be too weak
