Lokpal and Lokyukta are anti-corruption authorities that represent the public interest of the people of India. The Lokpal has the authority to investigate allegations linked to corruption against public offices under the central government. At the state level, the same function is performed by the Lokayukta.
It was after the Anna Hazare led 2011 Jan Lokpal movement that The Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act was passed in 2013 with amendments in Parliament.
The Communication Information Commission (CIC) is a statutory body commissioned under the Right to Information Act , 2005 (RTI). The key reason for legislating the RTI Act was to make access to information easy, timely, and inexpensive. The assumption was that these features would help make the legislation effective, powerful, and an overall success. The core authority of the CIC is limited to providing information and it does not have the power to take an action even in case of any oddity.
All complaints linked to public sector undertakings and financial institutions under the Government of India are reviewed by the CIC. Its role is to look into the complaints of people who have been unable to submit a request for information to a Central Public Information Officer or State Public Information Officers. Thus, the CIC has an important role in upholding democracy by ensuring transparency is maintained in governance. Transparency of this nature keeps corruption, nepotism, oppression and misuse, abuse of authority in check.
The Commission is led by a Chief Information Commissioner and consists of a maximum of 10 Information Commissioners. They are all appointed by the President based on the recommendation of a committee comprising the Prime Minister, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and a Union Cabinet Minister (nominated by the Prime Minister).
Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) is a statutory body which has an autonomous status. It is the apex vigilance institute that serves the function of giving advice to various organizations of the central government. It guides them on ways to plan, execute, review, and reform their vigilance work. Vigilance here is defined as ensuring the effective and efficient functioning of organizations and employees through administrative action. Improper or less vigilance can lead to wastage of resources and economic decline of the country.
The CVC is free of control from any Executive authority and responsible for overseeing all vigilance activity under the Central Government of India. Its job is to recommend appropriate action when it receives complaints regarding misuse of office or corruption. The Annual Report of the CVC provides an overview of the work done in that year and highlights the system failures which are the key cause for corruption. It also recommends ways for system improvements as well as a variety of preventive measures. The Commission also points out cases wherein its advice was ignored.
The CVC consists of a Chairperson and a maximum of two members. The President appoints all 3 members based on the recommendations given by a committee. This committee comprises the Prime Minister, the Minister of Home Affairs, and the Leader of the Opposition. The Commission members serve in office for a period of 4 years or until they are 65 years old, whichever is earlier.
National Human Rights Commission (NHRC)
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) of India's main role is to promote and protect human rights. Human rights are defined as "rights relating to life, liberty, equality and dignity of the individual guaranteed by the Constitution or embodied in the International Covenants and enforceable by courts in India."
The President based on recommendations made by the Prime Minister and a select committee appoints members of NHRC. The term of an NHRC member is 5 years, or until they turn 70 years old, whichever is earlier. An NHRC member can only be removed from their office if a Supreme Court judge's investigation on the matter concludes the members misbehavior or incapacity. The NHRC consists of 5 members:
Following is list of a few of NHRC's powers and functions:
A Statutory body is a non-constitutional body of oversight set up by the Parliament. The Parliament's statutes or laws are their source of power. These bodies have official permission to participate in legislation i.e the process of enacting laws. They have the authority to pass certain laws and take decisions on behalf of a state or the country.