Wednesday, August 5, 1998
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N A T I O N |
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Decision to defer Bill
evokes mixed reaction |
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MPs raise their own
salaries
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Building collapse toll
rises to 30 |
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Decision to defer Bill evokes mixed
reaction NEW DELHI, Aug 4 — The Union Cabinet’s decision to defer the introduction of the Bill granting full statehood to Delhi has evoked mixed reaction from various political parties. The BJP leaders of the Delhi unit have blamed the bureaucrats at the Centre for denying full statehood to Delhi by taking away the Chandni Chowk and NDMC areas from the actual National Capital Territory region as mooted by the party in its national agenda. "What we had promised to the public was full statehood, not a city divided into three parts. After including it into the national agenda, we even took the issue for the Cabinet’s approval, but the Home Ministry bureaucrats have denied Delhiites the privilege of full statehood," said president of the BJP Delhi unit, Mr Mange Ram Garg, adding that without Chandni Chowk, Delhi won’t be the same. The Chief Minister, Mr Sahib Singh Verma, said, "This is not what we had asked for from the Centre." The CM said this was not what they had expected and their demand for statehood was genuine and the stay on the decision was unexpected. Defending the city government’s objections to the Union Home Ministry’s plan to remove Red Fort and NDMC areas from the state, BJP leader O.P. Kohli said it could have created financial problems for businessmen living in different parts of the city and operating from Chandni Chowk or Connaught Place. The president of the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee, Mrs Sheila Dixit, said "this is the typical style of the functioning of the BJP — they make big promises and at the last moment they back out of it. Even at the time they were talking of bringing this Bill in Parliament it was felt that there was no need for such a tearing hurry to bring about this Bill." Shoaib Iqbal, Janata Dal
MLA, said "the BJP has been totally exposed by this
development. Earlier, they used to blame the Centre for
all ills of the Capital. But now they have their own
government both at the Centre and in Delhi. And now the
internal differences within their own party have led to
this situation. Had they introduced it in Parliament, the
parties opposing the Bill would have been exposed." |
MPs raise their own salaries NEW DELHI, Aug 4 (PTI) — The Lok Sabha today passed four Bills to more than double the salaries of President, Vice-President, Governors and MPs and also to increase their allowances and other emoluments. While President’s monthly emoluments were raised from Rs 20,000 to Rs 50,000, the emoluments of the Vice-President, who is also the chairman of Rajya Sabha, were enhanced from Rs 14,500 to Rs 40,000 per month. The House passed by voice vote the President’s emoluments and Pension (Amendment) Bill, 1998, moved by the Home Minister, Mr L.K. Advani, to enhance the President’s pension from Rs 1.20 lakh to Rs 3 lakh per annum. Governor’s salary was raised from Rs 11,000 to Rs 36,000 per month through the Governors (Emoluments, Allowances and Privileges) Amendment Bill, 1998, also moved by Mr Advani. The salary of MPs was enhanced from Rs 1500 to Rs 4,000 per month and their daily allowance from Rs 200 to Rs 400. The Salary, Allowances and Pension of Members of Parliament (Amendment) Bill, 1998, moved by the Parliamentary Affairs Minister Madan Lal Khurana, and passed by voice vote without any discussion, also sought to increase their pension from Rs 1400 to Rs 2500 per month. Office expense of MPs was raised from Rs 1500 to Rs 2500 per month. The Salaries and Allowances of Officers of Parliament (Amendment) Bill, 1998, moved by Mr Khurana, sought to enhance the salary of the Chairman of the Council of States (Vice-President) to Rs 40,000 per month. Earlier, opposing the introduction of the Bills, Mr Somnath Chatterjee (CPM) and Indrajit Gupta (CPI) said there should be an independent body to determine the salary of MPs. The MPs should not
increase their own salary, they said. Agreeing with their
views, Mr Advani said there should be some kind of an
institutional mechanism to determine the salary of MPs.
It looked embarrassing when MPs sought to increase their
salary and emoluments through such Bills, he said. |
Tell success stories, Atal tells
party MPs NEW DELHI, Aug 4 — The Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, today asked the Bharatiya Janata Party MPs to explain to the people the achievements of the coalition government. Addressing the last meeting of the BJP parliamentary party of the current session of Parliament, the Prime Minister said the winter session would be held in November. Mr Vajpayee, who had to leave the meeting to attend to some other important business, asked the Union Home Minister, Mr L.K. Advani, to carry on with the proceedings, party sources said. Continuing from where Mr Vajpayee had left, Mr Advani told the MPs that the Finance Minister, Mr Yashwant Sinha’s Budget was so pro-people that it took days for the Opposition to find faults with it. Mr Advani informed the members that the proposed Bills on Uttaranchal, Vananchal and Chhattisgarh, which were cleared by the Cabinet yesterday, have been forwarded to the President for his comments. Speaking on the law and order situation in Jammu and Kashmir, Mr Advani said the situation has improved in the Kashmir valley during the past two months. The increasing number of tourists and film shootings there were firm indicators of it, he pointed out admitting that there were "pricks" in the situation like massacres in Chamba and Doda. The government would not compromise on its determination to flush out terrorists from these areas, Mr Advani said. On the election of the Deputy Speaker, Mr Advani told the MPs that the Trinamool Congress leader, Ms Mamata Banerjee, has taken the responsibility for evolving a consensus on the issue. If there was no consensus, the BJP would contest the election since it was the single largest party with 181 MPs, he said. On the Jain Commission Report and the Action Taken Report (ATR), Mr Advani said the government was determined to find out who was the brain behind the Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination. "We are going about ruthlessly", he said. Making a strong defence of the government’s decision to set up a multi-disciplinary monitoring agency (MDMA), Mr Advani said the CBI was chosen as the agency to carry on the further investigations since it was the only statutory body. He said the BJP was not responsible for the fallout of the past rift between the Congress and the DMK on this issue. Mr Advani blamed the
Congress for stalling the Women’s Reservation Bill
by changing its stand at the last moment. He said because
of the change in the Congress’s stand on the Bill,
the government was not in a position to muster a
two-thirds majority to get the Bill through. |
Should child labour be banned? NEW DELHI, Aug 4 (PTI) — Law prohibits child labour, human rights organisations decry the practice and the developed world shuns their products. Yet it’s a fact of life that can’t be wished away. A ban on child labour will only push it underground like the world’s oldest profession, say trade unionists suggesting a more regulated and a better working environment instead. Social activists are unwilling to buy it saying it would only make matters worse. Swami Agnivesh for one says: “A total ban on child labour is the only way to eliminate the problem from its roots.” According to the Asia Labour Monitor report, at least 55 million children in India earn about 150 million a day which amounts to less than Rs 3 per child but contribute to more than one fifth of the total GNP of the country. But as the children do not get even one-fifth of what they produce, they continue in poverty even as the family elders lose their bargaining power with employers who prefer cheap labour. “We have come to a stage where we have to admit that withdrawing children from units is not the answer as it only heaps more misery on the child’s family,” says Mr P.K. Ganguly, national secretary of the Centre for Trade Unions (CITU). “But we have to ensure that children are not made to work for more than six hours a day and are given a respectable wage along with free compulsory education,” he says. “Offering better working conditions and a higher wage would only soften a burning issue and give the government more time to brood over the matter which will go against the cause”, says Swami Agnivesh demanding that the entire industry, including the victims, put pressure on the government to eliminate the problem. Although unions are alert to the fact that fresh recruitments have to be nipped in the bud, they cite many loopholes in the existing legal system which makes immediate elimination a difficult task. They say, as the Factory Act does not permit the employment of children, employers have entered into contracts and sub-contracts with middlemen who perpetuate the growth of child labour and at the same time satiate the needs of the industry. The problem worsens in the unorganised sector where self-employed and home-based industries like bidi, handloom, agarbatti and brick-kiln escape from the clutches of the law. Trade unions say that the existing laws are thus useless as employers will always devise ways and means to get cheap labour. The answer, therefore, lies in changing the employer’s attitude and urging them to provide decent working conditions. But social activist Kailash Satyarthi working at the South Asian coalition on Child Servitude (SAACS) says “though it is difficult to eliminate child labour, it is not a utopian idea.” “It is a misconception to link child labour with poverty. During the time of Independence, there were one crore child labourers and a corresponding one crore unemployed adults. Today, we have six crore child labourers and an equal number of unemployed adult population which means there is a parallel relation between the two.” “And if we provide them with jobs, living conditions would improve too,” says Mr Satyarthi. Employment of children has also led to the growth of black money as big industries like diamond cutting and polishing and handlooms save billions of rupees by showing accounts in which payments to adult workers are shown in lieu of the paltry salaries offered to children. According to a CITU survey covering nine unorganised sectors like matchmaking, bidi rolling, bangle industry and small restaurants in 14 states, the children are paid a measly sum in lieu of long working hours and that sum is also handed over only to their parents. Certain children are also forced to work without wages like 11-year-old Sahukat Ali who was rescued from a spices pounding unit and who is at present placed in a rehabilitation home. “Initially, I worked in a biscuit factory where I slogged from 4 am to 1 am but due to ill treatment, I escaped from the unit. Subsequently, I worked in a spices pounding unit under suffocating conditions”, says Shaukat. “But since the
employer did not pay me wages for five months, I escaped
from their clutches”, he says. |
Building collapse toll rises to 30 MUMBAI, Aug 4 (UNI) — The death toll in last night’s collapse of seven-storeyed residential-cum-commercial complex has gone up to 30 with the recovery of four more bodies, three from one family, even as search and rescue operations continued and a manhunt launched to trace the absconding builder of the 20-year-old building. According to police sources, a manhunt has been launched to track down the absconding builder-owner Jayaram Chawla. All police stations in the city have been alerted and a special vigil is being maintained at the domestic and the international airports following reports that Chawla may attempt to flee the country. The building, Govind Tower, which houses nearly 20 residential flats, a hotel and a gas cylinder store, collapsed like a pack of cards last night at Khernagar near the Bandra terminus in the North-West Mumbai. More than 50 persons were trapped under the debris. After a massive rescue operation launched by the Mumbai Fire Brigade, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation and police authorities, 26 bodies were recovered till latest reports came in. About 22 people have been admitted to K.B. Bhabha, Guru Nanak and Lilavati hospitals. Chief Fire Officer V.V.
Rao has not ruled out the possible of more people being
trapped inside the debris. |
New Ambassador to Russia NEW DELHI, Aug 4 — Mr Satinder Singh Lambah, presently Ambassador of India in Germany, will be the country’s new Ambassador to the Russian Federation in succession to Mr Ronen Sen, a Ministry of External Affairs press release said here today. Mr Sen is likely to replace Mr Lambah in Germany, sources said. Mr Lambah is expected to take up his assignment shortly, the release said. Mr Bellur Shamaro Prakash, presently Deputy High Commissioner in Sri Lanka, has been appointed India’s High Commissioner to Uganda, the release said. Mr Prakash is
expected to take up his assignment shortly. He replaces
Mr S.S.Gill. |
Advani to call all-party meeting on terrorism NEW DELHI, Aug 4 (UNI) — The government would soon call an all-party meeting to deliberate on the issue of terrorism affecting various parts of the country. Home Minister L.K. Advani, replying to clarifications on his statement on the Chamba massacre in the Rajya Sabha, said today, that the proposed meeting would be part of the government’s strategy to discuss all aspects of the issue. Mr Advani said the government was committed to wipe out completely the extremist activities being carried at the instance of the Pakistan’s ISI. The Home Minister said the government was determined to end the proxy war by Pakistan and restore normal conditions all over the country. The Home Minister referred to the problem created by the presence of more than one crore Bangladeshi nationals in the country. He said the government during its deliberations with leaders of the political parties would like to impress upon them that no attempts be made to politicise the issue. Mr Advani said about 6,000 Bangladeshis had been deported by the present government. He said the government would like to consider the views of some of the members that the act dealing with foreign nationals was not suitable to deal with the situation and hence it needed to be amended. Mr Advani claimed that the
terrorists had lost sympathy of the local population,
which had led to a sense of frustration among them, he
said. |
Report on PM’s health denied NEW DELHI, Aug 4 — Taking strong exception to media reports on Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s ill health, the BJP today said the Prime Minister was in "good health" and asked The Asian Age newspaper to publish a clarification along with an apology immediately. Briefing newspersons, the BJP general secretary, Mr M. Venkaiah Naidu, said the news report on the Prime Minister’s health appearing in today’s The Asian Age, was "baseless, politically motivated and mischievous". "The Prime Minister is in good health and has no plans to go to the USA for treatment" as reported by the paper, Mr Naidu said. The newspaper has carried the news about the Prime Minister’s health as its lead item without even cross checking from the Prime Minister’s Office, Mr Naidu said. The story is based on a
bogus claim of a well known BJP baiter, Dr Subramaniam
Swamy, who is known for levelling charges and changing
his mind later, Mr Naidu said, citing Dr Swamy’s
much publicised charges against the AIADMK supremo, Ms J.
Jayalalitha. |
Sirmour Manch remembers Dr Parmar NEW DELHI, Aug 4 — The late Dr Yashwant Singh Parmar, former Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh and known as the founder of Himachal Pradesh was remembered on his 93rd birth anniversary by the people of ‘Sirmour Manch’ at a function organised at Himachal Bhavan here today. The manch drew the attention of the people of Himachal that they should not forget the sacrifice of the people of Sirmour district in building Himachal Pradesh as full-fledged state and its overall development. Mr Parmod Singh, Manch president, regretted that the sacrifice of the district had been ignored by the people in power vis-a-vis other districts. Expressing concern he said that several people of the district were working as “coolies’’ at Shimla and Solan towns. The manch wanted the legislators of the district to rehabilitate them in their village or nearby by providing needed assistance from the government. The general secretary of
the manch, Mr J.S. Attri, said the “Sirmour
Manch’’ was proud of the work done by Dr Y.S.
Parmar for setting up a university of Horticulture and
Forestry at ‘Nauni’, Solan, which had been
producing scientists to develop horticulture and forestry
in the state. Due to horticulture, Himachal had become a
“fruit state’’ and because of forests,
rains and rivers had made it a “power
state’’ by generating electricity. |
BJP’s no-trust move against MP Govt BHOPAL, Aug 4 (PTI) — The main Opposition BJP in Madhya Pradesh legislative Assembly today moved a no-confidence motion against the Digvijay Singh-led Congress government. Leader of the Opposition Vikram Verma, moved the one line motion, expressing lack of faith in the government. Speaker Sriniwas Tiwari admitted the motion after more than one-tenth of the total members in the House stood up in its support. Barring the lone (CPM) member Ram Lakhan Sharma, no one from the non-BJP opposition parties backed the motion. The motion would come up for discussion tomorrow. This would be the second time since December, 1993, when the House would take up a no-trust motion against the government. The earlier no-trust motion was discussed in the monsoon session of 1996 and was defeated by voice vote. The current session of the
House is the last to be held before the Assembly polls
slated for this November. |
| In
brief Leeches used to cure varicose veins 10 killed as
lightning strikes Bodo militants
kill 4 National poetry
festival 200-year-old fruit
bearing mango tree Proceedings
against MP dropped Karnataka to
revise land taxes Bank robbed,
manager injured |
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