Cong Appeal to Oppn to Allow Parlt to Function Tomorrow

New Delhi, Aug 7 (UNI) The Congress today appealed fervently to the opposition to allow Parliamentary business unhindered tomorrow in view of the urgency to approve Supplementary Demand for General Grants -- as also for the Railways -- and sanction funds for the Government to function.

The Supplementary Demand for General Grants and the Supplementary Demand for Grants (Railways) need to be cleared by the Lok Sabha so that the monies for their respective expenditures could be released -- or else the machinery of the nation grinds to a creaking halt.

Making this submission, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi appealed to the respective Leaders of Opposition in both Houses of Parliament -- adjourned this afternoon following disruptions by the combined Opposition protesting the leakage of the Pathak Authority Report conducting little legislative business -- to return to Parliament on the morrow and ''cooperate in the larger interest''.

Mr Dasmunsi told mediapersons at a largely attended briefing within the Parliament House precincts that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh -- who is also Leader of the House in the Rajya Sabha -- proposed meeting the respective Leaders of Opposition in both Houses -- Jaswant Singh (Rajya Sabha) and Lal Krishna Advani (Lok Sabha) of the Bharatiya Janata Party -- late this evening to make this plea.

Further, he unequivocally submitted that the Goverment was prepared to discuss ''any matter'' -- the Pathak Authority Report or any such -- in Parliament subject to the respective Business Advisory Committees allotting time for it.

Already ''too much'' of Legislative Business time had been wasted in ''petty dancing and sloganeering'' with as much as 16 hours lost during the ongoing Monsoon Session, Mr Dasmunsi said readily supplying the statistics to back his claim.

Refusing to comment on the merits of the privilege notice against Prime Minister Manmohan Singh given by former External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh, the Parliamentary Affairs Minister said the Congress party would take ''an appropriate decision'' on Mr Singh ''at the appropriate time''.

The party would examine the RS Pathak Authority Report on Volcker before taking any decision, he told mediapersons adding that the party's response would come after examining the report.

Mr Dasmunsi said he would not like to make any comment... picking up Para Three of DI 33, POLITICS-DASMUNSI-NATWAR, New Delhi.

UNI YS/DG VD KP1912