The Opposition and government may be slugging it out over the losses caused to the national exchequer due to the 2G spectrum allocation but their stand-off has resulted in wastage of over Rs 95 crore on account of Parliament not functioning for the last 15 days.
The Winter Session began on November 9 and since a day after it, the Opposition has been hellbent on their demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into 2G spectrum allocation, which is believed to have resulted in losses to the tune of Rs 1.74 lakh crore.
The government has, however, refused to yield to the demand, leading to a deadlock because of which Parliament has been unable to function for more than 10 minutes per day on an average.
According to official figures, the total budget for Lok Sabha for the current fiscal year is Rs 347.65 crore while it is Rs 172.33 crore for Rajya Sabha.
The Ministry for Parliamentary Affairs, responsible for the functioning of Parliament, also has a separate budget of Rs 7.47 crore, taking the combined allocation to Rs 527.45 crore.
This includes salaries and other allowances of MPs, Speaker and Deputy Speaker of both the Houses, the expenditure incurred for the member''s foreign visits and meeting the expenses for foreign delegations visiting India.
In a year, Parliament meets thrice - for the Budget, Monsoon and Winter session. As per the business schedule of both the Houses, there should be a total of 83 sittings this financial year - 35 sittings during the Budget session and 24 each in the other two sessions.
This means, on average the government is spending Rs 6.35 crore per day to run the institution.
Today is the 15th consecutive day of the Winter session that ended without doing any business, which means that Rs 95.25 crore were spent without Parliament transacting any substantive business.
Friday, December 3, 2010
Thursday, December 2, 2010
PMO returning money orders on 2-G spectrum licenses
The Prime Minister’s Office has been returning the one rupee money orders sent by Lok Satta Party and other activists with the message that the Government of India cancel all 2-G spectrum licenses, recoup the loss to the exchequer and institute an anti corruption commission.
Disclosing this here today in a media statement, Lok Satta Party Working President D. V. V. S. Varma said students and youth would continue to bombard the PMO with money orders, faxes, emails and post cards reiterating the demands until December 9, World Anti Corruption Day.
He extended greetings to the Ministers who took office today and wanted them to focus on people’s burning problems and fight corruption. The Ministry should strive to ensure remunerative prices to agricultural produce, and resolve demands raised by beedi workers, auto rickshaw drivers, contract lecturers and others.
Disclosing this here today in a media statement, Lok Satta Party Working President D. V. V. S. Varma said students and youth would continue to bombard the PMO with money orders, faxes, emails and post cards reiterating the demands until December 9, World Anti Corruption Day.
He extended greetings to the Ministers who took office today and wanted them to focus on people’s burning problems and fight corruption. The Ministry should strive to ensure remunerative prices to agricultural produce, and resolve demands raised by beedi workers, auto rickshaw drivers, contract lecturers and others.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Farmer in distress makes children give up education and work as coolies
The desperate farmer of Medak district who burnt away the paddy crop in his three-acre farm because of his inability to get the crop harvested has made his children drop out from educational institutions and work as daily wage earners.
The heart-rending story of the marginal farmer Kankara Mallesam of Nawabpet village in Hutnur mandal of Medak district came to light following a visit to the village by State Lok Satta Party leaders Bandaru Rammohana Rao and G. Raja Reddy today.
Mallesam had spent Rs.60000 on raising paddy in his three-acre farm. When it was ripe for harvest, he could not access agricultural workers to reap it. Farmers in the village import agricultural workers from the neighboring Nalgonda district and Karnataka State. AS of today, there are 300 agricultural workers drawn from outside the village with a population of 2000. Implementation of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme has witnessed the number of workers opting for agricultural work dwindling all over rural Andhra Pradesh.
The migrant laborers were not prepared to work on his farm located about three km from the village, although he offered to share 50 percent of the produce with them. Even if he wanted to, he could not hire a harvester, as it cannot negotiate the slushy track to the farm.
Neither the sarpanch of the village nor the local legislator visited the farmer in distress. The sarpanch, a Dalit, had migrated to another village to work as a mason. The local legislator and former Minister was engrossed in Ministry-making politics in Hyderabad. Agriculture Department officials, who had failed to get the crop insured, now tell the farmer they can do little since he has burnt away his crop.
The Lok Satta Party leaders accompanied by Tummanapalli Srinivas and Sudheer Reddy, who visited the farm after trekking two km and called on the farmer tried to console him.Mallesam, aged about 55, is a widower. Having married off a son and a daughter, he is taking care of the other two children – a 17-year-old boy doing Intermediate and a 13-year-old girl in her eighth class. Now he has made them give up education and work as daily coolies to help him make both ends meet.
The heart-rending story of the marginal farmer Kankara Mallesam of Nawabpet village in Hutnur mandal of Medak district came to light following a visit to the village by State Lok Satta Party leaders Bandaru Rammohana Rao and G. Raja Reddy today.
Mallesam had spent Rs.60000 on raising paddy in his three-acre farm. When it was ripe for harvest, he could not access agricultural workers to reap it. Farmers in the village import agricultural workers from the neighboring Nalgonda district and Karnataka State. AS of today, there are 300 agricultural workers drawn from outside the village with a population of 2000. Implementation of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme has witnessed the number of workers opting for agricultural work dwindling all over rural Andhra Pradesh.
The migrant laborers were not prepared to work on his farm located about three km from the village, although he offered to share 50 percent of the produce with them. Even if he wanted to, he could not hire a harvester, as it cannot negotiate the slushy track to the farm.
Neither the sarpanch of the village nor the local legislator visited the farmer in distress. The sarpanch, a Dalit, had migrated to another village to work as a mason. The local legislator and former Minister was engrossed in Ministry-making politics in Hyderabad. Agriculture Department officials, who had failed to get the crop insured, now tell the farmer they can do little since he has burnt away his crop.
The Lok Satta Party leaders accompanied by Tummanapalli Srinivas and Sudheer Reddy, who visited the farm after trekking two km and called on the farmer tried to console him.Mallesam, aged about 55, is a widower. Having married off a son and a daughter, he is taking care of the other two children – a 17-year-old boy doing Intermediate and a 13-year-old girl in her eighth class. Now he has made them give up education and work as daily coolies to help him make both ends meet.
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