New Delhi, May 13
Ten Rajya Sabha members have been named for a joint parliamentary committee on the land acquisition bill.
Left
leaders, however, later complained that none of their members were
included in the list, even though the government had taken names from
them as well.
The motion was moved by Union Rural Development Minister Birender Singh on Wednesday.
The
members are Prabhat Jha and Ram Narain Dudi of the BJP, Digvijaya
Singh, Jairam Ramesh and P.L. Punia of the Congress, Ram Gopal Yadav of
the Samajwadi Party, Sharad Yadav of the JD-U, Derek O'Brien of the
Trinamool Congress, Rajpal Singh Saini of the BSP and Sharad Pawar of
the NCP.
Raising the issue in the house later, Communist Party of
India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader K.N. Balagopal questioned why the motion
for nominating members to the committee was moved during the debate on
companies bill.
"Lunch hour was announced between 1 p.m. to 1.30
p.m. Why was the motion moved then during the debate on companies bill,"
said Balagopal.
"Leaving Left out of the panel is very wrong," he said.
He was joined by CPI-M leader Sitaram Yechury, who said names were taken from them.
Minister
of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, however, said
that Md. Salim of CPI-M from Lok Sabha was there in the panel.
"Does
the government perceive Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha as separate
entities... Don't give the reason that in a joint panel, Rajya Sabha
representation is not needed," said Yechury.
Deputy Chairman P.J.
Kurien agreed that it would have been "better" if the motion was moved
after the bill, but added that he had taken the consent of the house.
The
deputy chairman added: "In the constitution, council of states is
mentioned first. Because there is a member from the other house, it is
no reason not to include member from this house".
The Lok Sabha on Tuesday had referred the contentious land acquisition bill to a 30-member joint committee of the two houses.
The committee is expected to give its report by the first day of the monsoon session.
The
government in December last year passed an ordinance to amend the land
acquisition act, and a bill on the lines of the ordinance was introduced
in the Lok Sabha in the first half of the budget session. Despite
getting through the lower house, the bill got stuck in the Rajya Sabha
where the government is in minority.
Subsequently, another
ordinance was issued by the government after proroguing the Rajya Sabha
and the relevant bill has now been brought in the lower house.
The key points, which were removed from the earlier law, related to the consent clause and the social impact assessment study.
