01 September,2010 08:29 AM IST | | Amit Kumar
House adjourned after Sushma Swaraj raised the issue
Even the last day of the Monsoon Session of the Lok Sabha could not function without adjournments, after the opposition members lost their cool over government response on Supreme Court order on rotting food grains.
It all started with the Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj intervening during discussion on the Indian Medicine Central Council (Amendment) Bill, 2010, with a submission on the apex court order on rotting food grains across the country, even as thousands reeled under the drought-flood onslaught.
Swaraj demanded that the government immediately make a statement in the House as it was from the Supreme Court which was issuing directives to the government for the second time on rotting food grains and starving people. As Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar was not present in the House then, vociferous BJP sought reply from Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Bansal. But, the House was adjourned due to pandemonium created by other opposition party's members over being given a chance to speak on the issue before the minister replied.
Amid opposition uproar and interruption the Chair allowed each party head to speak for two minutes each, but after JD-U leader Sharad Yadav, SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and BSP's Dara Singh Chauhan spoke, other members demanded that they also be heard.
Meanwhile, Bansal's deputy Narayan Swamy started shouting at members to sit down to restore order in the House that would help the minister (Bansal) offer his reply, Navjot Singh Sidhu objected to his action. In a quick reaction, members of the Congress and Trinamool Congress stood up to shout down Sidhu, who by now was asked by their senior party collegues to take his place. The opposition members were shouting slogans of 'Call Pawar'.
Among all this, Deputy speaker, Karia Munda, who was on Chair tried to restore order in the House, adjourned the House till 3 pm. Sharad Pawar, who later came to the House, said government would honour the decision of the Supreme Court, a copy of which has not reached him.
The Apex court had passed the direction while dealing with a public interest litigation filed by civil rights group PUCL on rampant corruption in Public Distribution System (PDS) besides rotting of foodgrains in FCI godowns.
