NEW DELHI, Jan 2:
A demand to frame a strict law to discourage begging was made in the Rajya Sabha today.
Shwait Malik (BJP), through a Zero Hour mention, said begging has become a menace, with visitors also being hounded.
A strict law should be framed to discourage begging, he said, adding that those indulging in begging and were healthy, should take up jobs of labourers or guards and not beg.
The physically challenged should be given government assistance, he said.
Ram Nath Thakur (JD-U) asked the Centre to give Bihar Rs 7,636 crore it had demand for flood relief and also waive farm and cattle loans.
Raising the issue of the “disastrous” move to close 7 out of the 12 Government of India Presses and all the Indian Railway printing presses, Tapan Kumar Sen (CPI-M) said the move ran contrary to the ‘Make in India’ campaign of the government as it destructs domestic manufacturing.
He said the move was termed “extremely unfair” by the parliamentary standing committee on urban development in its report tabled in Parliament last August.
The concerned ministry, he said, had told the committee that the presses were working very hard despite extreme shortage of manpower and had Rs 390 crore in outstanding dues to different ministries.
Stating that the workers were agitating against the move, he said modernisation of the presses was needed and not shutting them down.
Kumari Selja (Cong) raised the issue of increasing crimes against women in Haryana and asked the government to take it seriously.
She said the depiction of women and glorification of crime in the media and social media has played a role in encouraging crime. Police, she said, has to be empowered.
Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu said the issue raised was very serious and the media, cinema and social media have a great responsibility of not glorifying crime.
“We have to think about improving the situation overall,” he said.
Rajeev Shukla (Cong) raised the issue of electoral reforms and said the Election Commission should come out with clear-cut guidelines on counting of paper slips of Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) and the EVMs.
Also, the Election Commission clearly define the Code of Conduct and which development schemes and programmes can be allowed during electioneering, instead of leaving it to the discretion of poll officials, he said.
S Muthukaruppan (AIAMDK) demanded that the Centre should raise the supply of subsidised sugar to Tamil Nadu, as a recent reduction had led the state to cough up Rs 1,300 crore annually to enable the supply of the sweetener at below market price levels. (PTI)
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