NEW DELHI, May 4: Issues ranging from setting up of a panel to define the jurisdiction of Executive and the Judiciary, plight of Punjab farmers and Indo-US defence pact were raised in the Rajya Sabha today.
Congress member Rajiv Shukla sought the formation of a commission to define the jurisdiction of Executive and the Judiciary, saying there were growing instances of “total non-cooperation” between them.
Raising the matter during Zero Hour, he said “there are often complaints that Judiciary interferes in the work of the Executive and the Executive does not cooperate with the Judiciary. The environment is of total non-cooperation. The situation is such that the Chief Justice of India had to cry.”
He said while the Executive sits on matters of infrastructural requirements and appointments in the Judiciary, the judges decide on executive matters.
“Government should set up a common forum and decide who is going to do what. This ambiguity will not work. I welcome Supreme Court’s views on reforms in cricket, Medical Council of India, but thought should also be given to judicial reforms. When will this reform happen,” he said.
“A commission should be formed which should define the jurisdiction of the Executive and the Judiciary,” he demanded.
Quoting a House rule, Sukhendu Sekhar Roy (TMC) said that Shukla has taken the name of the CJI, to which Deputy Chairman P J Kurien said “I will examine.”
Pratap Singh Bajwa and Ambika Soni of the Congress raised the issue of farmer suicides in Punjab.
Between January and March this year, 76 farmers have committed suicide in Punjab and the situation there is “very concerning”, Soni said.
“Foodgrains and produce is lying in 90 per cent of the mandis across the state. There is no money for the farmers,” she said, charging the state government with misusing the funds.
Bajwa said that farmers have around Rs 69,000 crore as loan, of which about Rs 54,000 is from institutions.
“The government should absorb their debt. A cap should also be put that farmer’s land should not be confiscated. Also there is a need to check that private moneylenders do not charge interest rates more than that of the banks,” he added.
K C Tyagi of JD(U) raised the issue of the recent India- US pact on cooperation in Defence, saying “this is a surrender to the US. India has surrendered its foreign policy.”
Tyagi said both countries have agreed “in principle” to the logistics exchange agreement to enable both militaries to use each others’ assets and bases for repair and replenishment of supplies.
Sanjay Raut (Shiv Sena) said that Mumbai High Court has directed the government to raze the Adarsh building.
“Instead of razing the building, it can be used for offices of the Army or for hostels for children of Kargil martyrs. Razing the building is a waste of public money. It can be utilised for better purposes, while the guilty can be punished,” he added.
T Subbarami Reddy (Cong) raised the issue of pathetic condition of women in mental health institutions, saying women were living in unhygienic conditions and overcrowded wards in these institutions which also face staff shortages.
“The government should work in this direction,” he said.
Madhusudan Mistry (Congress) said no work was done under the Centre’s Adarsh Gram Yojna in Gujarat, while his party colleague Ananda Bhaskar Rapolu drew the attention of the House to the rising gap between qualified jobless youth and jobless economic growth.
“This is a dangerous trend,” he said, adding that last year, only 1.35 lakh jobs were added compared to 9 lakh jobs in 2011.
Viplove Thakur (Cong) raised the issue of “pathetic” condition of children in orphanages and demanded that the government should raise its spending so that they have better living conditions. (PTI)
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