People's Democracy

The Week In Parliament

Subhas Ray

RURAL EMPLOYMENT GUARANTEE BILL

AT last, one of the most significant promises made in the National Common Minimum Programme (CMP) of the UPA government was fulfilled with the introduction and passing of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Bill in parliament in the current session. The Bill was introduced in Lok Sabha on August 18, 2005 and passed on August 23 after thorough discussions and clause by clause adoption. The important role played by the Left parties in getting many clauses incorporated in the Bill prior to its introduction – one-third of the jobs to be reserved for women; the minimum wages must not be below Rs 60; the entire money (the annual allocation) would be released by April from a separate fund for the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and on failure to release the fund on the given deadline, compensation has to be paid to state governments; the states have to contribute only 10 per cent to the scheme; the centre has to consult with the states before notifying ‘the work’ that has to be according to local specification and so on. The Left was represented by the CPI(M) leaders, Brinda Karat, Basudeb Acharia, Nilotpal Basu and Hannan Mollah, CPI leaders Gurudas Dasgupta and Ajay Chakraborty, RSP’s Majoj Bhattacharjee and AIFB’s Debabrata Biswas in the discussions with the government.

Participating in the discussion on the National Rural Employment Guarantee Bill in Lok Sabha, CPI(M) member Hannan Mollah reminded that the communist party had been demanding since Independence to make the right to work a constitutional right. Although today the right to work is being given only legal sanction and not constitutional sanction, the CPI(M) fully supported the measure, he said. Mollah also demanded extension of this right to urban poor also. He noted that unemployment is on the rise in both rural and urban areas ever since implementation of so-called economic reforms. The situation is so alarming that the per capita grain consumption has declined in the last 20 years due to unemployment. The purchasing power of villagers has declined significantly.  Food grains selling capacity of farmers has also declined. He called upon the government to create employment opportunities for the educated middle class unemployed persons in urban areas also. Both agriculture and industries have to be developed on a priority basis. He complimented the government for accepting most of the recommendations made by the standing committee, particularly the provision that this programme will be implemented through panchayats. He stressed the need to see that the women get the maximum work under this programme. He appreciated the inclusion of the provision for compensation – in the event of death, a compensation of Rs 25,000 will be given.  Saying that the problems of implementation of the programme were also discussed threadbare in the meetings of Left parties with the government, Mollah expressed happiness at the acceptance of the CPI(M)’s suggestion that the state governments should be provided funds at the beginning of the year. Similarly, the suggestion for covering all districts of the country within a time frame of five years was also accepted. Mollah said there should be exemplary punishment for those indulging in corruption under this scheme. If someone resorts to malpractices in the implementation, he or she should be debarred from contesting elections for five years, he demanded.

ON SC VERDICT

Members of Rajya Sabha reacted sharply to the Supreme Court judgment on private professional institutions in the country. Raising the issue in the House on August 16, CPI(M) leader Nilotpal Basu said the Supreme Court order represents the ultimate commercialisation of professional education in the country. “This is against the basic principle on which our Constitution stands. The Supreme Court is there to interpret law. But this is an area which, very exclusively, belongs to the parliament. Therefore, this is a question on which the parliament has to respond appropriately”, he said. Pointing out that parliament cannot respond autonomously unless the government brings an amendment to take the sting out of the aggressive order passed by the Supreme Court, Basu  called for bringing this amendment in this session itself. The amendment should address the question of social and economic justice, particularly the question of maintaining reservation for the scheduled castes and the scheduled tribes.

PAYMENT OF WAGES (AMENDMENT) BILL 2004

Lok Sabha passed the Payment of Wages (Amendment) Bill, 2004.  Participating in the discussion, CPI(M) member Santasri Chatterjee underlined the limitations of the Act itself.  He said only 2 crore working people in the organised sector are covered under the Act while a significant 37 crore working people in unorganised sector are out of its purview. He wondered why this Bill seeks to impose a maximum wage ceiling for the workers and charged the government of unequal treatment of the working people. Saying that  it is very difficult for any worker to fight his case for a long time, Chatterjee felt that ‘The Abolition and Regulation of Contract Labour Act 1970’ has become practically redundant with the contractors cheating the workers and depriving them of their legitimate wages. He said that it is good that a provision has been included making the principal employer responsible for payment of wages to the contractual labourers.  He wanted that they should also be made responsible for timely payment of wages to the workers.  Stating that by mere enactment of law, proper justice to the workers is not possible since they are under attack from all sides, Chatterjee reminded the CMP commitment of the UPA government to uphold the interests of the working class of the country and demanded implementation of laws in letter and spirit.

Joining the discussion, CPI(M) leader Basudeb Acharia said there is no teeth in the present legislation.  The ministry of labour has become helpless. Citing an example of a public sector undertaking, MMTC, he said that the workers of its MICA division were being paid a paltry sum  of Rs 300 per month.  Similarly, the workers of the public sector undertaking, National Project Construction Corporation (NPCC) were not getting their wages for the last 17 to 18 months. He questioned why the wages of workers were not being increased in the Gazette notification as per the price index, as was being done in the case of minimum wages. Acharia expressed concern that companies which are not paying the provident fund are escaping with no action taken against them. He reiterated the demand that there should not be any ceiling regarding payment of bonus. Underlining that bringing legislation alone is not sufficient, he demanded strict action against violators of the law.

BIHAR BUDGET

Rajya Sabha passed the Bihar Budget for the year 2005-2006 on August 16.  Speaking on behalf of the CPI(M), Jibon Roy (who has since retired from the Upper House on August 18) emphasised the need for an integrated political and economic approach of the central and the state governments. Pointing out that the division of Bihar was done more out of political exigency than economics, Roy  demanded the centre to save Bihar by granting a special package to the state. He criticised the record of various Bihar ministers in the union cabinet who did nothing worthwhile for the development of their state. He also criticised those political parties which win elections on social justice plank, but do nothing to really empower the downtrodden by carrying out land reforms etc. He underlined the urgency of acting to bring Bihar out of its present morass.

Lok Sabha discussed the rise in prices of essential commodities, including the hike in petroleum prices on August 16. Participating in the debate, the CPI(M) member Lakshman Seth said the cost of essential commodities was sky-rocketing. And one of the important reasons for this was the rise in the prices of petrol and diesel.  Debunking the government’s justification of this hike as due to the rise in prices of international crude oil, the CPI(M) MP pointed out that the cost of production and refining of crude oil in India is much cheaper than in other countries. He said the prices are rising because of the high taxes being levied by the government and also because of the opening of oil refining to private sector. Pointing out that nearly 40 per cent of the central government’s revenues come from the oil sector, Seth called for mobilising revenue from collection of tax arrears, expansion of tax-net, stopping tax evasion and collection of thousands of crores of rupees loans (NPAs) taken by the rich people from banks, unearthing of black money etc.  He also demanded that the government should float a Price Stabilisation Fund and all revenue from taxes, duties on oil sector should be brought under it. The excise duty on petroleum products should be reduced and the subsidy being given to some exporters be stopped immediately. Finally, he suggested that in order to lessen the dependence on petroleum products, the government should tap other energy sources, namely, solar energy, bio-fuel products etc. 

APPROPRIATION BILLS 2005

Rajya Sabha passed the Appropriation (No. 3&4) Bills – 2005.  Only three members, other than the finance minister, participated in the discussion. The CPI(M) member, Chittabrata Majumder, demanded additional allocation to control floods, soil erosion and drought, which have become a regular feature in our country. He criticised that despite the extent of flood-prone and drought-prone areas increasing, there was no additional allocation of funds to control these. He said the devastation caused by these three menaces and the losses suffered by the country are enormous. He also criticised the lack of allocation for improving the drainage systems in all metropolitan cities.

On the revival of sick public sector undertakings, Majumder said though 35 cases were referred to BRPSE, only 15 were recommended for revival by the BRPSE to the ministry.  Even for these 105 units, no amount has been allocated.  A small amount has been allocated for the Hindustan Salt company.  The cabinet has cleared the revival of DBJ Construction Co. Ltd but there is no mention of any allocation for it.  Majumder warned that if proper, timely allocations are not made then the industries that have some scope of revival today, would again become sick.

(August 19)