THE WEEK IN PARLIAMENT

Subhas Ray

 NOVEMBER 18, the day the winter session of parliament began, saw a day-long debate on the opposition sponsored adjournment motion in Lok Sabha, in order to censor the government for creating communal tension and disharmony among various sections of society in Gujarat in particular. The CPI(M)’s Subodh Ray moved the motion, that was later defeated by voice vote. During the discussion, opposition members made a blistering attack on the BJP and Sangh Parivar outfits, charging them with fomenting trouble in order to polarise society on communal lines for electoral gains.

ADJOURNMENT MOTION

Moving the motion, Subodh Roy described the carnage in Gujarat as a national shame. He said no word is sufficient to condemn the incidents that took place there and the barbarity unleashed on minority women, children and other people. A conspiracy is being hatched in the country to uproot democracy so as to strengthen the roots of fascism and barbarism.  Even today, thousands of people living in camps lack courage to go back to their homes. Many criminals are still at large. While the whole nation has hung its head in shame, the fascist forces call it as their pride. The recent Gaurav Yatra was to boost the morale of riot-mongers. Roy said the government must resolutely curb the VHP and Bajrang Dal activities.

The people of India decisively reject these forces, Roy contended. Wherever elections were held, the BJP received a drubbing for its failure on all fronts. The provocative speeches of the VHP’s self-proclaimed guardians of religion are destroying communal harmony and weakening the constitutional system. They are enough proof that these outfits have no faith in India’s traditions. Roy demanded that the people whose family members have been killed and properties destroyed must be given adequate compensation. He asked: Why is this government hesitating in giving the same compensation to the kith and kin of the people killed in other parts of Gujarat as was given to the families of the Godhra victims? 

Rupchand Pal, CPI(M), charged the BJP with conspiring to divide the people on communal lines throughout the country. In Gujarat, a grave danger has been posed to our democratic institutions. The elected chief minister of a state, patronised by ministers of the union government, the ruling party’s president and the frontal organisations of the RSS publicly denigrated the Election Commission in an abusive language. As for the prime minister, he would say one thing now and another at some other time. On the other hand, the RSS has assigned to the VHP the task of forging the Hindutva agenda ahead in Gujarat. The RSS agenda is of setting up a Hindu Rashtra. But our prime minister boastfully declares that he is a swayamsevak first and a prime minister later! When the RSS was attacking the constitutional bodies and defying the Election Commission, Pal asked, did the prime minister condemn it? In fact the government is encouraging the people who are openly denigrating India’s constitution. This government owes an explanation to the parliament and the nation. Pal then urged the parliament to demand that the prime minister must condemn the VHP activities.

DROUGHT SITUATION  

Lok Sabha discussed the drought situation in the country through yet another adjournment motion while Rajya Sabha took it in a short duration discussion. The opposition wondered how the BJP and VHP are busy with their divisive, hate-filled propaganda when Gujarat is reeling under a severe drought. This is itself a telltale commentary on how effectively the BJP-led NDA government is dealing with the drought situation.  

From the CPI(M) side, N N Krishnadas and Mehboob Zahedi in Lok Sabha and A Vijaya Raghavan in Rajya Sabha said the drought has hit the country for the past six months and has affected 14 states. The resultant sharp fall in agricultural production will impact the overall growth. The availability of cereals in the country has already dropped to an all-time low of less than 143 gm and that of pulses to below 10 gm. The worst-hit are the peasants and agricultural labourers, the CPI(M) members said. The government has decided to declare a moratorium on repayment of medium term loans owed by the farming community. This is welcome, though inadequate. But this is for the benefit of farmers. They asked: what about the drought affected agricultural labourers? For them the members demanded total loan exemption. So far the government has not announced any special programme for the drought-affected areas or for the adversely affected cash crops, they said, adding that there must be a package for agricultural labourers.

As for food availability, the CPI(M) members castigated the government for cruelly boasting of overflowing godowns while the people are dying due to starvation. People in many parts of Orissa, Rajasthan, Tamilnadu and even in Kerala are starving. The CPI(M) members demanded an immediate review of the food policy. 

As for the 14 states declared by the centre as drought affected, the list does not include Kerala even though it had 14 per cent less monsoon compared to last year. The farming community there is facing a serious situation. Krishnadas insisted that Kerala must be included in the list.

Referring to Bihar, Zahedi said the state is facing the twin problems of drought and flood. If floodwater is diverted to drought affected areas, the problem of drought and flood may both be tackled. A proper policy has to be evolved in this regard, he suggested. 

CPI(M) members also demanded revitalisation of the public distribution system that was allowed to collapse. Foodgrains must be distributed free of cost in the drought affected areas, in tribal, backward and remote rural areas, and among the BPL people. Food subsidy must be given to the APL people. There must be no discrimination against a state in tackling the drought situation. There must be a permanent mechanism to tackle the natural calamities like drought and floods, the CPI(M) members said.

LOOT IN THE BANKS

Lok Sabha passed the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Bill 2002 on November 21. Moving a disapproval motion, Basudeb Acharia, CPI(M), said it has become a regular practice on part of the government to issue an ordinance in order to avoid parliament and its standing committees. So was done in case of the non-performing assets (NPAs). But what was the urgency for an ordinance? The standing committee on finance got no opportunity to scrutinise such an important bill as the present one. Yet, even after issuing an ordinance and having an institution in place, there was no sign of curbing the increase in NPAs. The opposition has been demanding stringent measures against the defaulters and also that their names be placed on the table of the house. Nobody knows why the government feels shy of publishing their names and punishing them. The minister himself said the NPAs are loot and no bad debt. But if they are loot, the members asked, why were the nationalised banks permitted to write off a certain portion of the NPAs as bad debt?

Rupchand Pal, CPI(M), said the bill would not serve any purpose; rather it would complicate the situation further and the banks will continue to suffer losses.

Having dealt with various provisions of the bill, Pal asked whether the government was prepared to punish these defaulters as criminals. In Pakistan, defaulters were not allowed to participate in elections. There are many countries where such loot is never allowed. There is deterrence. But, Pal asked, what deterrence we have? Here, a company takes loan from a bank, then goes to another for more loan and commits a fraud on the banking system. Defaulters are put here on the boards of directors of our financial institutions. Pal asked: Is it a proof of the government’s sincerity that such people, instead of being punished, are being rewarded, promoted to higher positions, encouraged and patronised?

The CPI(M) member asked the government to identify and punish the willful defaulters, and assure that no person associated with any defaulter company or unit would be allowed to have any link with the Assets Reconstruction Company. He concluded by saying that the government must also accept the RBI’s 17-point format for transparency and for disclosure of the banks’ balance sheets, amend several other laws like the contract act, the transfer of properties act, the stamp act, etc, and set up a credit information bureau.

OTHER ISSUES

In both houses, the opposition expressed shock over the fact that Justice K Venkataswami, who was heading an enquiry commission to probe the defence scandal exposed by Tehelka, was given a senior government job in the finance ministry. The entire opposition in Rajya Sabha staged a walkout in protest. The opposition charged the government with violating constitutional norms by trying to compromise the judge’s integrity.

In Rajya Sabha, the CPI(M)’s C O Poulose took up the issue of decline in the prices of agricultural produce. He said the falling prices of agricultural and especially plantation crops have severely hit the living condition of the agrarian population and plantation labourers. The removal of the quantitative restrictions has opened the floodgates for agricultural imports, putting the indigenous agriculturists in a quandary and increasing the rural unemployment manifold. In Kerala, many tea gardens have stopped production, rendering thousands of labourers jobless. Their families are at present virtually starving. Tea is currently selling at prices much lower than its cost of production. The situation is such that the price may further go down and the situation may become graver. Poulose urged the government to take appropriate steps to protect the Indian agriculture.

Rajya Sabha had adopted the Merchant Shipping (Amendment) Bill 2002.  In the discussion, C O Poulose, CPI(M), pointed to inadequate safety in deep-sea fishing vessels. He said the information and broadcasting equipment are insufficient. The safety of vessels and seamen need to be given high priority and the government must provide enough guarantee for that. The workers employed in merchant ships are given remuneration much lower than the standard minimum wages. Now the government is moving to privatise its ports and ship building units. Ultimately, foreign multinationals will be controlling our ports and ships, posing dangers to our security. Poulose demanded that the government review its strategy.