In the house

Labour Minister Mallikarjun Kharge came under attack from the BJP and Left members for his inadequate answers to pointed queries during question hour in the Lok Sabha on Monday.

Kharge,C P Joshi face Oppn heat

NEW DELHI: Labour Minister Mallikarjun Kharge came under attack from the BJP and Left members for his inadequate answers to pointed queries during question hour in the Lok Sabha on Monday. At one stage,even Speaker Meira Kumar had to assure the members of a proper reply I will take care of that when they expressed their dissatisfaction with his answers. As Kharge insisted that he would need a separate notice to answer a point raised by CPI leader Gurudas Dasgupta,the member got up to point out that it formed Part B of the first question listed in the agenda. The members had sought to know how many industrial workers had lost their jobs due to the global slow-down and the measures taken by the government to help them. There was a wave of protest as he started giving details of various government schemes. Rural Development Minister C P Joshi and his junior Pradeep Mathur also faced the heat when members raised supplementary questions regarding the status of road construction projects undertaken as part of the PMGSY in Bihar. Please give a comprehensive reply, the Speaker told the ministers in response to the members demand that they be provided complete answers.

LS clears Ancient Monuments Bill

NEW DELHI: The Lok Sabha on Monday passed the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remain Amendment and Validation Bill 2010 that provides for stringent punishment for desecration of monuments and creation of a separate authority to classify heritage structures. The Bill also approves of large-scale public projects in regulated areas. The National Monument Authority will comprise archaeological and heritage experts and will work without any interference from judiciary or bureaucracy, said Union Law Minister Veerappa Moily while piloting the Bill. The Bill had attracted controversy after some experts and NGOs said the provisions of the Bill could be misused by builders and violators. The Indian Express had first reported that the recent ordinance and the proposed law that empowers the Centre to regularise disputed structures within the banned 100-metre radius of protected monuments could be viewed as a step favouring powerful builders and VIPs,Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had constituted a committee to redraft the Bill.

Bareilly violence rocks House

NEW DELHI: The issue of communal violence in Bareilly figured in the Lok Sabha on Monday,leading to a demand for a Central intervention by members to bring the situation under control. Speaker Meira Kumar adjourned the House half-an-hour ahead of the lunch recess when BJP members created a din after their party colleague Maneka Gandhi was not allowed to speak on the issue. The issue was first raised by SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav,who said the Mayawati government was busy holding a rally while people of Bareilly were facing extreme hardship for nearly a fortnight due to curfew. SP chief whip Shailendra Kumar called for an intervention by the Centre to bring the situation under control.