The Week In Parliament

Subhas Ray

THE budget session of parliament began on February 25 with the President’s Address delivered by Dr A P J Abdul Kalam to a joint session of parliament. The Address, which reflects the government’s priorities and broad plan of action, stuck closely to the Common Minimum Programme (CMP) that has seven core commitments – agriculture, education, employment, healthcare, infrastructure, urban renewal and water. After the Address, both the Houses sat separately only to pass obituary references and adjourned for the day.

The next day, the finance minister, P Chidambaram presented Economic Survey 2004-2005 in parliament.  The Survey advocated the opening up of the retail sector to foreign direct investment (FDI) and called for hikes in the existing FDI caps in the coal, mining and insurance sectors.  The Survey also projected the GDP growth at 6.9 per cent and put the fiscal deficit at 4.4 per cent of GDP. The inflation was pegged at an estimated 6.4 per cent, with the hope that growth of agriculture and allied sectors, and electricity generation would rise by 6.5 per cent. 

On February 26, railway minister, Lalu Prasad Yadav, unfazed by noisy scenes and a walkout by NDA members over the issue of ‘charge-sheeted ministers’, presented the railway budget, 2005-2006 with a Plan outlay of Rs 15,349 crore.  There has been no increase in passenger fares for all classes, as also in the freight and parcel rates. But the change in categorisation of freight rates resulted in increase for certain products and decrease for certain others. For example, kerosene and LPG freight rates would get reduced by 3.7 and 2.7 per cent respectively while foodgrains meant for non-PDS and non-poverty schemes usage would attract higher rates, which might lead to a cascading effect on prices. The railway budget provided fare concessions to unemployed, rural students, farmers and milk producers.  A total of 46 new trains have been introduced, while 28 trains have been extended and there has been an increase in the frequency of 10 trains. The budget, as usual, deprived Kerala of any new train services or extension of trains in the state.

The UPA government’s first full-fledged General Budget for the year 2005-2006 was presented in parliament by finance minister, P Chidambaram on February 28. Unlike any budget in the past, this budget has exhibited some shift towards emphasis on employment generation, development of infrastructure in rural areas and investment in social sectors.

The budget estimates for the year 2005-06 put the total expenditure at Rs 5,14,344 crore while the revenue receipts and revenue expenditure have been put at Rs 3,51,200 crore and Rs 4,46,512 crore respectively, resulting in a revenue deficit of Rs 95,312 crore or 2.7 per cent of the GDP. The fiscal deficit works out to Rs 1,51,144 crore or 4.3 per cent of GDP.  This reduction is largely because of the shifting of states’ loan burden from the centre to the states. The proposed 0.1 per cent tax on withdrawal of Rs 10,000 or more from banks by cash has invited strong criticism from the members.

IRRESPONSIBLE DISRUPTIONS

The next day, on March 1, as the BJP insisted for acceptance of its adjournment motion regarding dismissal of its government in Goa, both the Houses of parliament had to be adjourned repeatedly. The Lok Sabha speaker, Somnath Chatterjee rejected the BJP motion on the ground that the matter was sub judice.   This infuriated the BJP members and they rushed into the well of the House and repeatedly disrupted the normal proceedings. The presiding officers had to adjourn both the Houses for the day.

On March 2, when the BJP-led opposition members disrupted the question-hour, the speaker adjourned the House till 12 pm. When the House reassembled again, the opposition members re-enacted the scene. Ignoring them, the speaker allowed those members to speak whose special mentions were listed for the day.  Amid interruptions, P Karunakaran of CPI(M) raised the issue concerning Ezahimalai Naval Academy, the prestigious defence unit which is going to be commissioned in this year. The problem concerned displacement of around 2000 families living in that area as their lands were acquired. These families lost everything and had not been given any compensation even after 22 years. The high court had given direction to the Kerala government to pay the displaced the market value of their properties. But till date no action has been taken by the government. Hundreds of evacuated families have begun satyagraha in front of the Ezhimalai Naval project and they decided to go on hunger strike till the issue was solved. Karunakaran urged the central government to take appropriate action before the project is commissioned.

P Rajendran of CPI(M) urged the government to extend all possible assistance to the Kerala government to mitigate the problems being faced by traditional industries such as cashew, coir, handloom industries, fisheries and construction sector in the state. He depicted the pathetic plight of the nearly one crore people of the state who are dependent on these industries for their livelihood. These working people’s misery has been compounded due to the severe crises in agriculture and allied sectors. Hundreds of thousands of people have become either completely unemployed or partly employed. The CPI(M) member said the crisis in cashew industry due to price fall has caused a negative impact on the nation’s foreign exchange earnings apart from rendering scores of workers jobless. Coir products worth crores of rupees are lying in the godowns for long as the exports have dwindled and workers are thus denied of employment for the last few years. Application of modern technology, infusion of capital investment and modern marketing are the dire needs of these traditional industries. He urged upon the central government to urgently help the state government in saving millions from starvation.

Bikash Chowdhury of CPI(M) raised the issue of difficulties being faced by new industries in West Bengal, particularly the coal-based industries, which were not getting coal from the Coal India Limited despite repeated requests to the coal ministry. On the other hand, it is reported that two million tonnes of coal have been allotted to such parties who have no relation with coal-based industries.  Another four million tonnes of coal of North East Coalfield Limited is slated to be allotted to similar parties. Stating that industries in the districts of Burdwan, Purulia, Bankura and Birbhum in West Bengal were awaiting for sufficient coal allotments for the last five to six years, Chowdhury demanded immediate action from the government.

MOTION OF THANKS DEBATE

There was no let-up in the disruption and the speaker adjourned the House till 2 pm. When the House reassembled, the speaker took up the debate on the motion of thanks on the President’s Address.  In the noisy atmosphere only one member could speak on the debate, that too only some portion of his written speech, which was laid on the table. The speaker ultimately adjourned the House for the day.

Both the Houses remained paralysed over the next two days, March 3 and 4, as the opposition continued its irresponsible disruption on the Goa and Jharkhand  developments. Somnath Chatterjee described it as a ‘very sad day for Indian Parliament’ on March 4 and adjourned the House till March 9.

In fact, the smooth running of parliament began from March 9 onwards only with  the debate on the motion of thanks on the President’s Address. From the CPI(M) side, Basudeb Acharia, N N Krishnadas and A V Bellarmin participated in the debate in the Lok Sabha while Nilotpal Basu spoke in Rajya Sabha.

Basudeb Acharia in his speech noted that the Address broadly reflected the Common Minimum Programme (CMP) of the UPA government and hoped the government is committed to giving a new deal to rural India. He explained the worsening situation in the rural areas with the decline in agricultural growth for the last three consecutive years. The foodgrains production has fallen below the rate of population growth. The average number of working days for agricultural workers has declined in the country. There has been an increase in the production cost of the agricultural commodities and farmers were not getting fair remunerative price for their produce. The rural development expenditure which was 14 per cent in the Eighth Five Year Plan, has come down to 5 per cent in the Ninth Plan. The switch-over from foodgrains to cash crops has resulted in the decline in foodgrains production. There has not been any expansion of irrigated areas in the last several years. The government has gradually reduced subsidy on fertiliser, agricultural inputs, electricity tariffs, etc. In this distressing situation, many farmers are committing suicide today. There is growing unemployment among agricultural labourers who constitute nearly half of the country’s workforce. With no minimum wages and labour laws existing in the unorganised sector, the majority of workers are suffering.  Acharia also raised the issue of the severe crisis facing the handloom sector and said this was solely because of liberalisation policies of the government. He criticised the non-mentioning of empowerment of women in the Address. On the issue of foreign direct investment (FDI), Acharia said the CPI(M) was not against FDI per se.  If FDI helps the country to increase the productivity, employment and brings in new technology, then CPI(M) will have no hesitation in supporting  it. Acharia firmly opposed FDI in pension, telecom., civil aviation and insurance sectors. He pointed out the various lacunae in the National Rural Employment Guarantee Bill introduced in parliament. Referring to the problems of people living in slums, he criticised the governments for dislodging them without any effort for their rehabilitation. He stressed the need for formulating a Slum Policy. Similarly, Acharia raised the  issue of eviction of tribal people from their forest lands and demanded that the government should enact a suitable legislation to guarantee their living in the forest. On the foreign policy front, Acharia said that the government has to take steps to correct the distortion of the last six years of NDA rule.  He requested the government to rethink about our relations with Israel.  Acharia concluded his speech with the demand for enactment of legislation to make the right to strike a fundamental right.

Participating in the discussion, N N Krishnadas emphasised that the main thrust of the UPA government should be to tackle the serious problem of unemployment in the country.  In this regard he criticised the government for limiting the Employment Guarantee Scheme to just 150 districts only – with none from the state of Kerala.  He demanded that it should be extended to all rural areas in our country.  He drew the attention of the government towards the issue of water conservation and demanded enactment of laws to prevent groundwater exploitation in our country.

A V Bellarmine in his speech largely concentrated on the tsunami devastation in Tamil Nadu, and more particularly in his constituency, Nagercoil which was the worst-hit. He mentioned that rescue and relief operations were almost absent in first three days of the tragedy and criticised the state administration for not showing the needed urgency in rushing help to the affected people.  Many houses of fishermen were washed away.  Presently, they were looking for immediate financial help to start their lives afresh.  He urged upon the government to formulate an effective co-ordination mechanism to avoid delay, misuse of funds etc in dealing with this natural disaster.

Speaking of agriculture, which is still the mainstay of Indian economy, Bellarmine said lack of irrigation facilities was hampering this crucial sector in many parts of the country. The sources of irrigation have to be renovated considering the increased needs. He stressed the need for rejuvenating the cooperative sector by strengthening the cooperative societies.  This will also help in strengthening of rural industries.  Referring to the plight of migrant workers, he demanded the government to address their problems. He stated that education system must be uniform throughout the country with stress on mother tongue in every region.  Bellarmine ended his speech with a forceful demand for establishing a minority university in Nagercoil.

Participating in the debate in the Rajya Sabha, Nilotpal Basu said the CPI(M) was welcoming the President’s Address mainly because it essentially reflected the Common Minimum Programme (CMP). Admitting that the CPI(M) had differences with the government on several issues, Basu said it was therefore extending outside support to the government on the basis of this CMP.

Referring to the kind of verdict in Bihar, Jharkhand and Goa, Basu said it is clear that coalition has become a necessity today and also the need to collectively have address the concerns of the people at large. Dealing with the role of the institution of governors, legislature and judiciary, he said it was because of the failure of the executive in becoming accountable to the legislature and the failure of the legislature in fulfilling its responsibility well, many of the issues that should be sorted out in the legislature, are going to the judiciary.  He made it clear this was wrong.  Basu suggested a discussion on the institution of governors.  “This is an issue which should be discussed by all parties and, if necessary, we can actually bring out a Constitutional amendment to clear the confusion”, he said. He strongly disapproved the continuous disruption of parliament by the opposition.

Basu welcomed the focus of the President Address on the Indian context of energising our rural areas and of increasing public investment in the field of social sector development.  It also correctly tries to outline the new emphasis of the new foreign policy of the UPA government. Demanding reservation for SC/STs in private organisations, Basu said the social laws enacted by the parliament should apply to both private and public sector.  Referring to the mention of a transparent aviation policy in the Address, he said there is everything, but transparency in the aviation sector.  The manner in which the government is surreptiously privatising our airports is an example of it, he said.  Regarding the telecom sector, Basu highlighted how certain entities were day-in-and-day-out actually looting money or appropriating money which is meant for the development of telecom in the rural areas. Tthe teledensity is 20 in urban areas and 40 in metros while in rural areas it is a just 1.9 only. In conclusion, Basu demanded more thrust from the government for building up infrastructure in eastern and north eastern regions of the country.

(March 13, 2005)