Heated debate, Oppn stages 4 walkouts

Ruchika M Khanna
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, January 17

Opposition parties staged four walkouts on the second day of the special Assembly session here on Friday. Amid the din, the Assembly passed three Bills, including the Punjab Water Resources (Management and Regulation) Bill.

As soon as the House assembled, SAD-BJP MLAs protested against the announcement by Speaker Rana KP Singh that only government business would be transacted, and no other public issues would be taken up.

They then rushed to the Well of the House, urging the Speaker to allow them to raise issues concerning the state. Denied permission, they alleged their voices were being muzzled and tied black cloth on their mouths as they walked out of the House.

Not to be left behind, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs (under the watch of their party president Bhagwant Mann, who was in the visitors’ gallery), too, rushed to the Well of the House. Demanding a debate on the increase in power tariff and opposing the rejection of their private member’s Bill on scrapping the power purchase agreements, legislators of the main Opposition party staged a walkout as well.

This was followed by a heated discussion on a report of the Vidhan Sabha Privileges Committee against a Punjabi government teacher, who reported for a news channel and a vernacular newspaper. The report held the teacher guilty of tarnishing the image of the Vidhan Sabha, and recommended his dismissal from service and denial of retirement benefits.

Akali Dal MLA Bikram Singh Majithia, Pawan Kumar Tinu and Dr Sukhwinder Kumar Sukhi as well as Simarjit Singh Bains of the Lok Insaf Party accused the committee of muzzling the freedom of the press, a charge denied by Amrinder Singh Raja Warring. Subsequently, the SAD staged a walkout on the issue.

As the government tabled the Punjab Water Resources (Management and Regulation) Bill, AAP legislator Aman Arora pointed out that the state was heading towards desertification as the groundwater level was depleting at a rate faster than the water being recharged.

Gurpratap Singh Wadala of the SAD welcomed the Bill, but said the government had so far failed to do much for water conservation.

Principal Budh Ram of AAP said the water crisis was looming large and often water did not reach villages situated at tail-end of canals. Bains said Punjab would become a desert soon. “We have been flagging that the state’s riverwater is going to non-riparian states such as Rajasthan. Punjab should claim Rs16 lakh crore from Rajasthan as water charges,” he said.

As the Speaker asked him to sit down, the MLA and his brother Balwinder Singh Bains stormed the Well of the House, and demanded that the government raise the matter. When their request was not heeded to, the duo walked out in protest.

Sandhwan said people who were polluting the state’s water should also be punished.

Water resources and 2 other Bills passed

Punjab Water Resources (Management and Regulation) Bill

It will provide for the management and regulation of water resources, and ensuring judicious, equitable utilisation and management of water. The Punjab Water Regulation and Development Authority will be set up.

The CM convens all-party meeting on January 23 to evolve a strategy to tackle the issue of fast-depleting water resources in the state.

Punjab Right to Business Bill

To provide for the ease of doing business through an enabling eco-system. It calls for establishing District Bureau Enterprise to strengthen and support MSMEs, and a state nodal agency to monitor them.

Punjab Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Bill

It has amended Sections 10, 39 and 44 of the Punjab Act and also provides for the facility of digital payment to recipients.