MPs fear return of 'Inspector Raj'

New Delhi, Nov 24 (UNI) Members of the Lok Sabha today expressed the apprehension that the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill 2005 will only promote Inspector Raj in the country, defeating the very purpose for which the Bill is being brought.

Initiating a discussion on the Bill, moved for consideration by Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, Mr Mahadeo Shivankar (BJP) said the Congress had always adopted a policy favouring Inspector Raj and Permit Raj. He alleged that the Congress wanted to bring about Inspector Raj by making Mr Pawar a pawn of its designs. ''They want to shoot from the shoulders of Mr Sharad Pawar,'' he said.

He recalled that the demand for an amendment to the Essential Commodities Bill had been made in the Congress Chief Ministers Conclave. This itself proved that the Congress had given its agenda to Mr Pawar to implement in the Winter Session of Parliament, he added.

He wondered whether the new Bill would help prevent the farmers from committing suicide, pointing out that farmers suicide were taking place at the rate of one thousand per year in Vidarbha alone.

Mr Shivankar said the Bill would serve little purpose, as what was actually required was a firm willpower and good governance. In spite of lakhs of quintals of foodgrains being released from Government godowns, the people in the villages were still deprived of the essential commodities, he rued.

He asked whether the new Bill would guarantee improvement in the public distribution system or in the procurement or check the prices of essential commodities.

Mr Rajagopal(Cong) supported the Bill, saying the Government thereby was moving towards a dynamic approach from the static approach. He stressed the need for ensuring accountability to be fixed on some authority in supply of essential commodities. He was also for free movement of essential commodities.

Mr V Radhakrishnan(CPI-M) emphasised the need for consultations with the States prior to issuance of any notification with regard to essential commodities, adding if it was not done then it might have serious repercussions and would defeat the very purpose of the Bill.

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