THE WEEK IN PARLIAMENT

                                        Subhas Ray

THE budget session of parliament, which started on February 25, ended on May 17, when both houses were adjourned sine die. The session’s last day witnessed unanimity of opinion against the cross-border terrorism in Jammu & Kashmir. Earlier, Lok Sabha held a short duration discussion on the terrorist attack on bus passengers and army camp at Kaluchak in Jammu, May 14. The opposition castigated the government for its reliance on the US to fight against Pakistan-sponsored terrorism.

TERRORISM IN KASHMIR

In Lok Sabha, ridiculing the BJP members’ call for a limited war, the CPI(M)’s Somnath Chatterjee warned that jingoistic utterances would not solve the Kashmir issue, saying the nation must press for a mature response. He suggested a three-pronged strategy to deal with the situation: step up diplomatic pressure on Pakistan to take effective steps against terrorism; initiate political process in Jammu & Kashmir and offer autonomy as the basis for negotiations; and heighten vigilance and security measures along the border to check terrorist infiltration.

Conveying condolences to the bereaved families and condemning the killing of the innocent, Chatterjee said this was an act of deliberate provocation from across the border to worsen the situation in J&K, and to hamper the processes for restoration of normalcy there, especially in context of the coming polls. The terrorists targeted the state assembly on October 1 last, the parliament building on December 13 and the US centre in Kolkata on January 22.  On each occasion, the country stood as one to put up united fight against all forms of terrorism, both internal and cross-border. It is for the government to protect the nation and the people. Chatterjee wanted to know the position about the international cooperation against terrorism under US leadership and the outcome of the government’s efforts to create international opinion about our fight against terrorism.

Chatterjee also emphasised the need of a major socioeconomic package for the state, and of grant of autonomy in order to overcome the feeling of alienation gripping the people. But the government has rejected the autonomy plea totally. These are serious matters and the union must give the J&K people a sense of security and confidence, as they are bearing the brunt of it. Though the assembly polls are nearing, the government is not very sure of participation of all sections of the people in the polls.

PATENTS BILL

Parliament has passed the Patents (Second Amendment) Bill that sought to amend the Patents Act 1970. The 1970 act was for process patent and had a ceiling of 4 per cent on the royalty. The recent bill aimed to have product patent and did away with this ceiling, which means the multinational companies can now ask for royalty up to 100 per cent. The timetable for the patents law change has three phases. The first phase was completed when the government of India accepted in 1999 the principle of product patents. This bill tried to fulfil that obligation, and that was the second phase. In the third stage, before December 2004, the product patent regime will be formally established. 

Opposition members in both houses moved a spate of amendments to the bill. It will be noted that all the WTO-related bills have been passed with support from the Congress that shares with BJP the WTO-dictated policies. Only the Left has been consistent in opposing these policies.

The CPI(M)’s Biplab Dasgupta and Nilotpal Basu opposed the bill in Rajya Sabha and Rupchand Pal and Suresh Kurup in Lok Sabha. They said there was no need to rush through the bill. The third world countries are aware of their interests and willing to fight for their rights. Many of the countries have not yet passed any such bill. Passing this bill would affect many countries of the world, the CPI(M) members cautioned. The WTO wants the patent period to be extended from 14 to 20 years. But the CPI(M) members demanded that it be brought down as, in a world of fast innovations, a product/process inevitably becomes obsolete quite soon.

The members also questioned as to why TRIPS should be made a part of the WTO agreement. There are conspiracies in the matter of interpreting its provisions. TRIPS are heavily biased against the developing and poorer countries. The TRIPS agreement states that steps may be taken to protect the public health interests, but again and again there have been provisions that take away the rights of India and other developing countries to provide for health care. The CPI(M) members said our pharmaceutical industry would be in jeopardy and would have to face unequal competition. The concept of compulsory licensing and the right of the government too have not been adequately addressed. The CPI(M) members said the government is acting at the multinationals’ behest, at the cost of our interests. These members dealt with various aspects of national security like health security, biological security, economic and territorial security. They also raised the issue of micro-organisms found in our exclusive economic zones and of our bio-diversity, and demanded the bill’s withdrawal.

BIHAR HAS

BEEN CHEATED

Lok Sabha held a short duration discussion about a financial package for Bihar. Participating in the debate, the CPI(M)’s Subodh Roy and Basudeb Acharya said the home minister had assured the house, on the day of division of Bihar, that the state’s interests would not be ignored.  Now it is clear that the state has been fooled. The step-motherly treatment being meted out to Bihar means that its people have been penalised and immense harm caused to our democratic set-up. The issue concerns the eight crore population of Bihar that is lagging behind in every sphere --- literacy, employment and industry. The main reason is the discrimination against the state and the centre’s apathy towards its problems. A number of sugar, textile and jute mills are lying closed in addition to Barauni fertiliser factory and a major power plant where thousands of workers are suffering. The Bhagalpur silk was famous in the world and used to earn foreign exchange for us. But at present, 12-14 lakh weavers are without work. Major irrigation projects like Bateshwar Ganga Project are lying incomplete. The people of North Bihar are suffering because of floods. Farming fields are becoming barren. Some concrete steps are needed about industrialisation, employment, irrigation and flood prevention.

The CPI(M) members asked why Bihar was not given a package and the status of a special state. They asked the house to adopt a motion in regard to the losses suffered by Bihar after its division and to give it the status of a special state. 

OTHER ISSUES

Lok Sabha has passed the Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2001. Opposing the bill, the CPI(M)’s Rupchand Pal said the Malhotra committee report and the IRDA Act have a provision for intermediaries. But, he asked, who is an intermediary? In fact, the government wanted to allow brokers in the name of intermediaries. It seems the government has not learnt any lessons from the 1992 scam. The Committee on Public Undertakings strongly expressed its opinion against the introduction of brokers. But, while moving the bill, the finance minister deliberately avoided to mention the word broker. Have the brokers helped in any country? In the US, the brokers caused havoc to the insurance industry, Pal reminded. The government’s game is to allow the loot of public money. The way things are moving, the country is going back to the pre-nationalisation days. In the name of the financial sector reforms, we find there is no regulation. Scam after scam is taking place and small investors are being looted like anything. Hence Pal demanded that the bill be withdrawn.

In Rajya Sabha, on the issue of securities scam in cooperative banks, the CPI(M)’s Nilotpal Basu said the minister’s statement about it failed to capture the scam’s ramifications. We saw a similar approach to the share market scam also. Basu asked the finance minister: Was Sanjay Aggarwal, CEO of Home Trade Ltd of which there was a mention in the statement, the CEO of M/s Lloyds Brokerage in 1997? Was not there a major fluctuation in share prices on January 16, 1997, and the SEBI had found M/s Lloyds Brokerage guilty of rigging the share prices? While an inquiry was going on, did the EDTV, a Mauritius-based company, not purchase M/s Lloyds Broakerage for a pittance, at Rs 1.50 per share? While the inquiry was on, was M/s Lloyds Brokerage not allowed to be renamed as M/s Euro-Asian Securities? Was a change in its management not allowed subsequently? The question is: Why did the government allow all this? We know that while an inquiry is on, the regulator must freeze the company’s activities, the name it carries and the management it has.

When there were grave violations and criminal acts committed by the Madhavpura Mercantle Cooperative Bank in the earlier share market scam, the RBI came out with the guideline that all cooperative banks must put 25 per cent of their investments in government securities. Basu wanted to know about the proficiency of cooperative banks, at that point of time, in dealing in government securities, which is a specialised business and whether the RBI had put in place any transparent and upgraded system whereby any foul play could be restricted. Cooperative banks were allowed to put 25 per cent of their investment in guilts and they had to fall back on certain brokers who are reselling to different banks the guilts they are purchasing. This is how some 20 such banks got involved in the scam.

Basu said unfortunately the finance minister had no clear answers to any of these questions.  The fact is that our financial sector is in the doldrums and any adventurer can easily loot the small depositors’ money. There is no security for small depositors’ money earned through blood and sweat. On the top of it, the finance minister gave the looters a certificate by saying that there was no failure on the part of the regulators. Nothing could be more unfortunate for this nation, Basu concluded.