Speed up Highway development to check terrorism : BJP

New Delhi, Nov 27 (UNI) The BJP today demanded in the Rajya Sabha that the development of National Highways in Orissa and other states should be expedited to check spread of terrorism.

Raising the issue as a Special Mention in the Upper House, BJP MP Rudra Narayan Pani said ever since the UPA government had come to power, the works on the Golden Quadrilateral linking the states to ports had come to a standstill and the pace of work should be speeded up on NH 200 and 201 in the national interest.

Mr O T Lepcha, SDF, highlighted the need to take effective measures for maintaining normalcy on NH 31A in Sikkim as any strike in West Bengal would paralyse the traffic movement to this Himalayan land locked state. Many MPs cutting across the party line supported the demand. Mr Suman Pathak, CPI-M, urged to include Darjeeling Hill Council in the sixth Schedule of the Constitution.

Mr Santosh Bagrodia, Congress, expressed concern over the proliferation of explosives and small arms while Mr Gyan Prakash Pilania, BJP, said the Government should take note of the serious development wherein the Para-Military and Armed Forces personnel were leaving the forces under stress. Mr Vijay J Darda, Congress, sought the administration to identify Bhoodan lands so that they could be distributed among the poor.

Mr Datta Megha, NCP, demanded implementation of Justice Rajinder Sachar panel report on the status of Muslims at the earliest while Mr S Ambalagan, AIADMK, pleaded for removing anamolies in the pay-scale of EPF officials.

Mr Gyanadesikan expressed concern over the abuse of children through child porno sites by lecherous adults around the globe.

India should ban these sites and save children, he urged. TDP MP, M V Mysora Reddy urged the need to take effective measures to abolish child labour estimated to be around 1.28 million in the country. The laws will have to be effectively implemented by the states ensuring proper legal action against the offenders, he urged.

Mr Lalit Kishore Chaturvedi, BJP, urged the government to provide additional wheat supply under Annapoorna scheme in Rajasthan to overcome rising rural unemployment.

Mr Motilal Vora, Congress, urged the Government to rehabilitate the farmers displaced by the Bhilai Steel Plant. These peasants had lost their lands in return for meagre compensations. Their successors should be provided employment according to their qualifications, he said. Mr C Perumal, AIADMK, urged the Khadi and Village Industries Commission to revive their financial support to palm-based industries in Tamil Nadu. Mrs Syeda Anwara Taimur urged scrapping of manual scavenging in the country. Mrs Pramila Bohidar, BJP, urged the Centre to direct the states to fill up all vacant posts of medics and paramedics in the country to reduce maternal mortality rate.

UNI