The Uttarakhand government has initiated the process of drafting a strong and an effective Lokayukta bill and intends to bring the office of chief minister under its ambit, chief minister B C Khanduri said.

After a meeting with Team Anna comprising Arvind Kejriwal, Prashant Bhushan and Kumar Vishwas here last night, Khanduri said the discussions with the members were part of the exercise to make the bill strong so that it can keep an effective check on the corruption, an official release on Tuesday said.

The chief minister said the Lokayukta bill would soon be introduced in the state Assembly.

Team Anna members had arrived here yesterday on the invitation of the chief minister to give their suggestions for a tough and effective Lokayukta bill against corruption.

Soon after taking over as Uttarakhand chief minister on September 11, Khanduri had declared that his government would bring a fresh strong Lokayukta bill where suggestions of Jan Lokpal draft bill of Anna Hazare would also be incorporated.

Khanduri said the suggestions from other institutions and organisations have also been invited to make Lokayukta stronger and more effective.

The chief minister also told the members of Team Anna that the state government has created a separate department for good governance, corruption elimination and public service, which would also carry out regular monitoring of these works.

Listing the steps taken by him against corruption, Khanduri said directives have been issued to ministers and officials of the state to declare their assets by October 15.

A decision is also being taken for public utilisation of benami property in the state, he added.