AMN
The Government has taken serious cognizance of the matter related to mob-lynching in the name of cow protection and sought information from States.
Replying to supplementaries during question hour in Rajya Sabha today, Minister of State for Home Hansraj Ahir said, states have been asked to take stringent action against people involved in violence in the name of cow vigilantism.
He said, several people have been arrested in different parts of the country. Mr Ahir said, Home Ministry has issued advisory to states for prompt action as law and order is a state subject. He said, data is being collected about such violent incidents by National Crime Records Bureau.
The Minister informed that so far no state has demanded setting up of a Special Investigation Team. Mr Ahir said, dragging BJP’s name in such incidents is not proper and the Prime Minister himself had said that people should not take law into their hands.
Dissatisfied with the Minister’s reply, Opposition members including Samajwadi party trooped into the well raising slogans, leading to a brief adjournment of the House.
During the Question Hour, which began post noon, Samajwadi Party members rushed to the well of the House and shouted loudly in protest. The House had to be adjourned for ten minutes.
In the Zero Hour, Opposition members raised issues regarding the agrarian crisis in the country. Members said farmers were being forced into distress sale of crops in the face of cheaper zero-duty imports.
Several members gave notices under rule 267 that allow adjournment of the proceedings to take up a discussion on an issue.
Deputy Chairman P J Kurien said a discussion on the matter has been accepted and the members can raise their points during the debate.
Raising the issue, Sharad Yadav (JD-U) claimed that 15-20 farmers were committing suicide every day. He said the production of pulses has been raised by 33 per cent but the government has lowered the import duty on it to zero, resulting in cheaper shipments into the country.
Digvijaya Singh of the Congress said the farmers were getting “bullets instead of price”.
Kurien said besides Yadav, Pramod Tiwari (Cong), Naresh Agarwal (SP), Ram Gopal Yadav (SP), Kapil Sibal (Cong) and Sitaram Yechury (CPI-M) had given notice under 267 on the same issue.
A discussion on the subject has been admitted and the members can raise their points then, he said.
Ali Anwar Ansari (JD-U) through a Zero Hour mention raised the issue of manual scavenging to say that the practice continued even after the government had declared it illegal.
Four workers, he said, died in the national capital due to toxic gases while cleaning a septic tank.
“All four are dalits,” he said. He also added that over 2,500 dalits had lost their lives in last two-and-half-years because of manual scavenging but no cases had been registered or compensation had been paid.