People's Democracy

THE WEEK IN PARLIAMENT

CPI(M) Parliamentary Office

THE very first day of the monsoon session of parliament on August 5 saw repeated adjournments in both houses amid the vociferous protest against the division of Andhra Pradesh.

On August 6, the issue was of Pakistani firing from across the line of control (LoC) and death of five Indian soldiers as a result. Defence Minister A K Antony made a statement in both houses. Speaking on the statement made by him in Rajya Sabha, Sitaram Yechury, leader of the CPI(M) group, expressed anguish on the fact that we continue to lose our brave soldiers on the LoC. Paying homage to the soldiers who lost their lives, he wondered how the defence minister could state that the attack was made by 20 heavily armed terrorists dressed in Pakistan Army uniform. He asked: Where did this information come from? Did the minister make his own investigation to establish that the attackers were not armymen but terrorists? It was virtually saying that the attackers were non-state actors, meaning that they would have to be dealt with on a different plane. In terms of diplomacy as well as military vigilance, it was a serious mistake to come to such pre-judged conclusions. If there was any basis for coming to such a conclusion, the minister should have shared it with the members, provided it was shareable, or otherwise assured them that the government did its job and then came to this conclusion. A mere statement like this does not instil any confidence that we are treating the entire issue with the sincerity that it deserves.

The minister stated that the situation is worsening in the sense that infiltration has doubled, as compared to last year, but not stated the number of bids. He said 17 infiltration bids were foiled but did not tell how many bids were made in all. Have we been able to foil a majority of such infiltration attempts? That is not clear. Ceasefire violations have also increased by 80 per cent. The question is: What has the government done so far vis-a-vis the government of Pakistan?

Further, all this is directly related to what is happening in the neighbouring Afghanistan. About the Af-Pak policy being followed, Yechury asked what the assessment is of the impact that the US troops withdrawal in 2014 would have on us. What efforts that are being made by the government to defend ourselves?

The government said it has enough evidence on the question of intelligence surveillance. But what is happening to our own intelligence? We feel very reassured to hear that our army is fully prepared to meet any situation. But what is happening to our anti-terrorist and intelligence agencies?

On August 8, the defence minister made another statement admitting that the unprovoked attack on Indian troops from across the (LoC) was made by specialist troops of Pakistan Army; he also said his earlier statement was based on the information then available.

Speaking in Rajya Sabha on the large-scale devastation caused by cloud bursts, flash floods and landslides, Prasant Chatterjee referred to the heartbreaking disaster in Uttarakhand where more than a thousand have died and many more injured. While there was complete destruction of many villages and a large number of people were stranded or are missing, there was severe lack of relief operations, water, medical help and other necessities because of a weak and callous administration. While such a disaster is called ‘natural,’ manmade factors make large contributions to such occurrences. It was indiscriminate destruction of forests, unscientific damming of rivers, indiscriminate mining of sand and stone, constructions in riverbeds etc that created such a situation in Uttarakhand. The state government planned hydropower projects and built a few dozen but without a proper scientific study of their impact on the river-flows. No regulatory mechanism was there in these places. And now bad roads and unstable hillsides are a major hindrance to relief operations. Many environmentalists and development experts have raised important issues about dams and hydroelectric projects, roads, urban settlements, pilgrim traffic and the pattern of development. It would invite a grave danger if the government ignored the valuable suggestions of such experts.

In Lok Sabha, on August 7, Professor K V Thomas, the minister of state for consumer affairs, food and public distribution, moved the Food Security Bill 2013 that would replace the earlier Food Security Bill 2011. He claimed that the new bill would provide for food and nutrition security with a life-cycle approach, ensure to the people access to adequate quantity of quality food at affordable prices, and enable them to live a life of dignity. Many of the CPI(M) MPs have given a number of amendments to this bill. The discussion on the bill was listed in the next week’s agenda.

While speaking on the Companies Bill 2012 in Rajya Sabha, P Rajeeve congratulated the minister, Sachin Pilot, on its introduction, saying that the bill should however have taken into account the changes in our society. The member wanted to know whether the bill had any specific provision about combating the increasing crony capitalism. There is nothing to protect the interests of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes in this bill. There is no specific mention regarding rural areas and backward areas. One of its specific features was related to the social responsibility of corporate houses, but the member found the provisions weak.

There has been and is a demand from various sections of the society that there should be workers’ participation in management of industries. The member demanded that there should be at least one director from among employees, and some safeguard to protect the interests of our workers. He also referred to cross media ownership as a great threat to democracy, regretting that the bill has no specific provision regarding it.

Though the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Orders (Amendment) Bill 2012 was taken up for discussion in Lok Sabha, the discussion could not take place due to continuous disruption.

Finance minister P Chidambaram moved a motion in Lok Sabha regarding the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Amendment) Bill 2013 that would amend the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act 1992 which was passed by Rajya Sabha on March 11, 2013 and laid on the table of Lok Sabha on March 12, 2013. The motion urged the Rajya Sabha to allow the Lok Sabha to discuss and adopt a new bill.