Approves bill for merger of Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu
Staff Reporter / New Delhi
The Parliament today passed the Special Protection Group (Amendment) Bill, 2019. The proposed amendments in the SPG bill will provide security to Prime Minister and members of his immediate family residing with him at his official residence. It will also provide security for a period of five years to former Prime Ministers and his immediate family members residing with him at the residence allotted to him. The Bill says that when the proximate security is withdrawn from a former Prime Minister such proximate security will also stand withdrawn from members of their immediate family.
Replying to the discussion, Home Minister Amit Shah said, the question of political vendetta does not arise in bringing the amendment as the SPG cover is meant only for the physical and communication security of the Prime Minister.
He clarified that adequate security for the Gandhi family has been provided though the SPG cover has been withdrawn even before bringing the amendment based on the assessment of the threat perception. He said after five years, if Mr. Narendra Modi will not be Prime Minister of this country, he will also be taken out of the purview of the SPG cover. The Minister said, the SPG cover cannot go on endlessly for a particular family in a democracy.
He said, he is not against any specific family but only against any family rule. On the structure of the SPG, Mr. Shah said, the personnel of the elite force consist of those originally from the other security agencies like CRPF, BSF, SSB, State police forces and others who will be repatriated to their parent forces after a tenure of five years. He said, Z plus security is also a round a clock security mechanism.
Later, not satisfied with the Minister’s reply, Opposition including the Congress, DMK and the Left Parties staged the walk-out.
Earlier, initiating the discussion, Vivek Tanka of Congress criticized the move saying politics is being played in a sensitive matter like security. He said, this was not an ordinary act and it was brought after the assassination of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. He said, latest amendments have been brought only to exclude a single family from the ambit of the act. He questioned, if any untoward incident happens in the future with this family, who will take responsibility.
Manas Ranjan Bhunia of TMC said, before amending the Act it must be kept in mind that Nehru-Gandhi family has lost two members in terror attacks. Ram Gopal Yadav of Samajwadi Party said, any security cover should be based on the threat perception adding it should not be viewed as a status symbol. CPI(M)’s K.K. Ragesh opposed the bill saying it is politically motivated. P. Wilson of DMK said, withdrawal of SPG cover to the Gandhi family on grounds of cash saving as mentioned by the government, cannot be accepted. Sanjay Singh of Aam Adami Party said, enhanced security for the Prime Minister is a welcome move but the security of others should also not be compromised. Satish Chandra Mishra of BSP also said that security should be commensurate with the threat perception.
On the other hand, Neeraj Shekhar of BJP supported the bill saying that SPG security must be provided only to the Prime Minister and different security forces must be created to provide security to the former Prime Ministers. He said this government is committed to abolish the VIP culture from this country and Home Minister has already assured that proper security will be provided to the Gandhi family. RCP Singh of JDU and Prasanna Acharya of BJD also supported the bill. Other members including GVL Narshima Rao of BJP, Naresh Gujrat of SAD, Binoy Vishwam of CPI and Manoj Jha of RJD also participated in the discussion.
Meanwhile, Parliament has also passed the Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu (Merger of Union Territories) Bill, 2019.
The Bill provides for the merger of Union territories of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. It is aimed at providing better delivery of services to citizens of both the UTs by improving efficiency and reduction in paperwork and administrative expenditure. It will also bring uniformity in policy and schemes. Both the UTs are located in the western region of the country. Dadra and Nagar Haveli has just one district while Daman and Diu has two.
Speaking on the bill, Minister of State for Home Affairs, G. Kishan Reddy said, it was the long-standing demand of the people of the region. He clarified that there won’t be any change in the linguistic policy after the merger.
Intervening in the discussion, Home Minister Amit Shah clarified that there is no requirement of a Constitutional Amendment for the merger of the Union Territories.
Earlier, during the discussion, Madhusudan Mistry of Congress said, it is believed that small units help in effective administration. He questioned how the merger of these two UTs will help in a better administration. Trichy Siva of the DMK demanded full statehood for the Puducherry Union Territory. Vinay Sahasrabuddhe of BJP and RCP Singh of JDU supported the bill. CPI member Binoy Viswam said increasing the size of a Union Territory will lead to statehood demand in future.
Sushil Kumar Gupta of the AAP said elected Governments are not able to function effectively in the Union Territories.
Amee Yajnik of Congress asked what would be the cost of improving the social indicators though the Government argues that the merger meets the requirement of minimum government and maximum governance.
Sasmit Patra of the BJD, KK Ragesh of the CPIM, and others also participated in the discussion.