Lokpal bill to create Indian anti-corruption watchdog approved

India's parliament has approved a contentious anti-corruption bill that sets up an independent ombudsman's office to investigate and prosecute cases of misconduct by politicians and bureaucrats.

The lokpal or watchdog bill was passed by the lower house of parliament on Wednesday and will become law after being signed by the president.

The prime minister's office and all top civil servants and departments will now come under the ombudsman's scrutiny. The measure was first proposed 46 years ago but successive governments had been reluctant to create the post.

The government, a coalition led by the Congress party, faces a tough battle to stay in power in elections due next spring and its new enthusiasm for the watchdog is seen by many observers as an attempt to make up lost ground with voters.

Public anger at levels of corruption in India was one reason for the heavy losses Congress suffered in state elections over the past month.

"The losses were very important. Congress had no option basically," said N Bhaskara Rao, a political analyst in Delhi.

The government first came under pressure to create the new institution more than two years ago, when Anna Hazare, a social activist, led a mass movement protesting at a series of huge scams involving politicians, businessmen and bureaucrats.

Hazare has since mounted a series of hunger strikes to pressure India's leaders to push his proposal through parliament.

Speaking after the passage of the law, he warned that it would "be meaningless unless it is implemented and enforced properly", the Times of India reported.

"This is a good step against corruption. There will not be 100% control on corruption through the lokpal bill but at least there will be 50% control on corruption. The people will have at least some relief. I hope that this will be made into a law soon," Hazare said.

The bill had been in abeyance since 2011, when it was approved by the lower house, but not the upper house.

"We must listen to the voices outside the House. I hope that the bill creates history," said the law minister Kapil Sibal this week.

Arun Jaitley, a leader of the main opposition Bharatiya Janata party, said the bill was "the result of the government realising which way the wind was blowing on corruption".

Mainstream politicians have scrambled to convince voters of their anti-graft credentials following the success of the Aam Aadmi party, or the Common Man party, in elections to the Delhi assembly this month.

Set up by a former associate of Hazare's, the AAP's main manifesto pledge, which won massive support among voters, was for more honest and accountable governance.

Leaders of the AAP have said the new office is too weak.

Only the regional Samajwadi party opposed the bill, saying it would further paralyse government decision-making as officials would be too scared to take decisions for fear of investigation.

Some critics say the ombudsman will only complicate an already fragmented landscape, where a variety of agencies are charged with investigating corruption allegations.

The ombudsman will be appointed by an independent committee comprising the prime minister, the head of the supreme court, the leader of the opposition and an eminent jurist.

India has existing laws to tackle corruption but civil rights activists have argued that these are not enough in light of the large number and scale of scandals in one of the world's fastest-growing economies.

The new law will also be a test of the power of central government in India. Individual states are free to decide the form and powers of the ombudsman's office. Many already have similar institutions.

India is ranked 94th in a list of 177 countries on Transparency International's 2013 global corruption index, rated worse than China, South Africa and Brazil.