Govt. Securities Bill taken up in RS amid protest

New Delhi, Aug 14: The Rajya Sabha today passed The Central Silk Board (Amendment) Bill, 2005, and The Produce Cess Laws (Abolition) Bill, 2006, and took up for discussion, amid a walkout by SP, AIADMK and TDP, the Government Securities Bill, 2006.

While the earlier two Bills were passed without much discussion in the absence of adequate number of members in the House, the Securities Bill was taken up amid protests by the opposition leaders who demanded that it be taken up some other day as many members were absent and would not be able to participate in the discussions even though three hours had been allotted to it.

There was heated discussion for about 20 minutes between the opposition and the Congress members on whether the Securities Bill should be introduced or not.

Mr Amar Singh (SP) and Mr S S Ahluwalia (BJP) said the members had been assured that today's business would not be long. As a result, most members were absent and would not be able to take part in the discussion.

Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Suresh Pachauri, however, insisted that the Bill be taken up as it had been listed while the handful of opposition members present opposed.

Vice Chairman Kalraj Mishra tried to pacify the agitated members and took up Special Mentions. He said he would take a decision on the issue after the Special Mentions.

After the Special Mentions, the Vice Chairman asked Finance Minister P Chidambaram to introduce the Securities Bill amid a walkout by SP, TDP and AIADMK members.

Earlier, while replying to the debate on the Central Silk Board (Amendment) Bill, Minister of State for Textiles E V K S Elangovan assured the members that the government would take adequate steps to ameliorate the hardships of silk farmers and check silk smuggling from China and Bangladesh. He said the government had taken measures to check dumping of Chinese silk into the Indian market and would increase the number of members of the Central Sericulture Board from 10 to 15. The government would also supply high-yield seeds to farmers.

To ensure the high quality of Indian silk, the government had recently launched a silk marking scheme for authenticity of silk.

Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, in his speech while introducing The Produce Cess Laws (Abolition) Bill, said such laws should be abolished to allow farmers to export produce which was in abundance within the country.

He, however, said the government should be able to stop the exports of any agricultural produce if it was in short supply in the country to save any adverse impact on domestic consumers.

The Minister said India topped in production of milk, bananas and sugar and therefore, if these were exported, it would help farmers.

BJP member S S Ahluwalia cautioned against price rise and an adverse impact on domestic consumers.

During the Special Mentions that were taken up before the Securities Bill, Mr Amar Singh (SP) expressed concern at circulation of fake goods, including spurious drugs and counterfeit notes, and urged the government to make strict laws to prevent the practice.

Mrs Mabel Rebello (Cong) expressed concern over the ''mad rush'' among corporates to acquire land at various places in the country for making Special Economic Zones (SEZs). She urged the government to keep a watch on such practice.

Mr C Perumal urged the government to ensure housing loans at cheaper interest rates while Mr Ali Anwar Expressed concern at the plight and consequent suicides of handloom workers.

Mrs Nirmala Deshpande urged the government to check farmers suicides, particularly in Banda in Uttar Pradesh, while Mr J P Aggarwal (Cong) lameneted the lack of security in Delhi District Courts.

UNI