House clears Maya’s ‘memorial’ force

They demanded that the Bill be referred to the select committee of the House and several members moved amendments,but the Bill was passed with a voice vote in the absence of Opposition members.

Leading the charge against the Bill were BJP’s Om Prakash Singh,Radha Mohan Das Agarwal,SP member P K Rai and Awadhesh Kumar and Congress member Pramod Tiwari,who sought to know the reason behind constituting a separate force to guard these monuments when there are enough police personnel.

“The Bill has several provisions that lie outside the Constitution and will not stand the scrutiny of the law if challenged in the high court,” said the Congress Legislature party leader Pramod Tiwari.

“It will be better if the Bill is referred to the select committee for scrutiny by the members of the House and reintroduced after the required amendments.”

Agarwal said it was strange that no minimum qualification for the members of the force was given in the Bill and nor was there any provision for the service rules. He said the special force was being raised for the security of the chief minister’s residence at 13 Mall Avenue

Replying to the Opposition’s charges,Verma said the force will protect the monuments constructed on public funds. On the issue of the personnel having the option of joining political outfits,he said the DGP will never give such permission and so the apprehensions of the Opposition were unfounded and baseless.

He said central forces are protecting Ayodhya,Kashi and Mathura and a similar force is required to protect these monuments. The Bill was tabled in the state assembly on January 28.

As per the Bill,this new force will have the power to arrest anyone without warrant if the person was seen threatening to damage the monuments.

The new force will also have the power to frisk any person.

In the first phase,only one battalion of policemen would be recruited in the new force. After the force comes into existence,government would have to spend around Rs 67 crore.

The 10 monuments which will be protected by this new force are Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar Samajik Parivartan Sthal,Dr Ambedkar Vihar,Samajik Parivartan Prateek Sthal,Manywar Kanshiramji Smarak Sthal,13 Mall Avenue,Manyawar Kanshiram Ji Green (Eco) Garden,Ramabai Ambedkar Maidan,Buddha Vihar Shanti Upvan and Smriti Upvan (all in Lucknow) and Gautam Buddha Samta Mulak Sthal at NOIDA in Gautam Buddha Nagar district.