Prasar Bharati Bill shouldn’t have dodged RS – Opposition

NEW DELHI, Aug 6: Opposition parties today urged President K R Narayanan to take appropriate action'', apprehending that an ordinance f...

NEW DELHI, Aug 6: Opposition parties today urged President K R Narayanan to take “appropriate action”, apprehending that an ordinance for including provisions of the Prasar Bharati Bill could be promulgated after Parliament is prorogued.

Opposition leader in the Rajya Sabha, Manmohan Singh, who led a delegation of Opposition Rajya Sabha MPs to Rashtrapati Bhavan, told mediapersons that the lawmaking process, having been set in motion and the Bill having been passed by the Lok Sabha, should have been considered in the Rajya Sabha.He said the Bill was not tabled in the Upper House “deliberately” though members were prepared to sit “as late as necessary” to facilitate its consideration. But Parliament’s authority was undermined following the “bypassing of the Rajya Sabha”, he said.

Singh expressed surprise over sine die adjournment of the Rajya Sabha before the Lok Sabha session concluded.He said as per normal practice the Upper House sat longer than the Lower House to transact legislative businessfinalised by the Lok Sabha.

The delegation, comprising Jitendra Prasada, Suresh Pachauri, Ahmed Patel (all Congress), Jibon Roy (CPI-M), Jalaluddin Ansari (CPI), submitted a memorandum signed by 124 members of the Rajya Sabha.

The delegation felt the Prasar Bharati Bill might be brought in the form of an ordinance so that the government could appoint “its own persons on the Prasar Bharati board”.It said the action was “highly improper” and aimed at “subverting the Constitutional process” by bypassing the Rajya Sabha.The memorandum, earlier sent to Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, urged President K R Narayanan to take “such appropriate action as you may consider fit”.The members said Narayanan had assured them that he would examine all aspects.