As the Rajya Sabha took up the debate on the Lokpal bill, Jaitley said: “The message is loud and clear, people are not ready to accept the present status quo.
“Corruption in many areas has become a way of life.”
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader said the "upper sections of the society bend the rules and indulge in corruption, while the common people suffer.
“There are low areas of society where the average man has to confront corruption as a way of life,” he said.
He said some “not so complementary statements” were being made about parliament and MPs. He urged fellow members not to pay attention to them.
“Time has now come to raise the bar of accountability in India. Existing structures have not succeeded. They have not responded to the enormity of the situation,” he said.
The upper house took up the debate at noon, an hour after the Lok Sabha begun the debate to resolve the logjam over a Lokpal bill following a fast by Hazare that entered the 12th day Saturday.