Hinting at Government’s willingness to arrive at a compromise on the Lok Pal Bill, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said today that the Government was open to discussion and dialogue on the issue.

Addressing national media at the end of the Planning Commission meeting in Delhi, the PM called for a broad consensus on the issue and said the Government wanted to enlist the cooperation of all thinking segments in the country to make the end product of Lok Pal Bill a very effective and strong one.

“We are ready for discussion and dialogue so that we can arrive at national consensus on the issue of Lok Pal Bill,” he said. 

Reacting to the demand of the anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare that the Jan Lok Pal Bill must be passed by the Parliament by August 31, the Prime Minister said that it would be difficult to meet the demand as it was a legislative process.