Elders protest meagre provisions for Vice Presidents

NEW DELHI, May 16: The Vice President’s Pension Bill was approved – under protest – by the Rajya Sabha this evening, after Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral promised the House that official amendments would be brought in the next session.Several members criticised the bill for being badly drafted, with even Deputy Chairperson Najma Heptulla observing that it was “ill conceived and without any imagination”.Agreeing with the members, Gujral said that he too did not want such a Bill.However, he pointed out, there was a technical difficulty since this was a money bill which the Lok Sabha had already passed. If members agreed, the bill could be approved and amendments made in the next session. If the House wanted the bill to collapse he had no problem, Gujral said. However, the MPs agreed that the bill should be passed after the Prime Minister gave an assurance that he would bring appropriate amendments first thing nextsession.Satish Agarwal (BJP) pointed out that he objected to a retired vice president being given residence of the category of a deputy minister. He said that the leader of the Rajya Sabha cannot be equated with a mere deputy minister. Also, the Rs 500 allowance proposed for facilities was too meagre. Besides, the bill spoke of “his” spouse. What if the vice president was a woman, he asked.Earlier in the day, BJP and CPM members refused to allow the bill to be passed and demanded that it be kept pending till the Prime Minister came to the House.