Indian govt moves closer to deal with anti-corruption protesters

The Indian government offered significant concessions to the leaders of an ongoing anti-corruption protest movement late Tuesday, as the health of the movement's fasting leader continued to deteriorate and he refused medical attention.

According to India's Daily News & Analysis (DNA) newspaper, in a meeting with leaders of the protest movement Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said the government would accede to demands to make the prime minister accountable to the newly proposed ombudsman's office (or Lokpal). The government also agreed to the demand that the present anti-corruption cell of the Central Bureau of Investigation — now viewed as a tool of whatever government is in power — be shifted to the control of the more neutral Lokpal.

In return, Hazare's people reportedly agreed to the government's suggestion that instead of making the judiciary, too, directly answerable to the Lokpal, the government would propose a separate bill to strengthen the monitoring of the supreme court and other judges.

Hazare’s deteriorating health acted as a spur to the negotiators, after doctors raised an alarm about his deteriorating condition. A medical team treating the activist advised that Hazare be moved to hospital and put on a saline drip, but the leader refused to move from the Ramlila Maidan without a concrete commitment from the government on the bill.