New Delhi, Feb 5 (PTI) Targeting the government and the Election Commission over the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, Aam Aadmi Party member in the Rajya Sabha Sandeep Kumar Pathak on Thursday said an exercise which should have taken years is being rushed in months, saying it was “not achievable”.
He also alleged the “misuse of institutions”, naming the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Enforcement Directorate (ED), Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) and the Election Commission.
Participating in the debate on Motion of Thanks on the President’s Address in the Upper House, Pathak said “nobody is against SIR” but it is a gradual process.
“Nobody is against SIR but it is a continuous process, it is a gradual process which should take several years for effective implementation. You are rushing an activity which should take two years in 3 months. Who on Earth can achieve this. I am very sure it is not achievable,” he said.
Besides, Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) member K R Suresh Reddy expressed concern on the “growing inequality in India” and sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s intervention for the resolution of inter-state river disputes across the country, saying it requires “political will” and convergence.
Reddy observed that all the major rivers in the country today are under inter-state dispute.
“Be it Krishna, Godavari, Cauvery, Ravi, Beas, Narmada, all the rivers are under dispute. Nine tribunals have been constituted so far in the country today. I believe there are six functioning. (There is) no respite, no solution. Beyond tribunals, specific authorities have been created … Unfortunately nothing works. This is where the political will has to come in … and this is where the Prime Minister should intervene,” he said.
Reddy said he believes that “political convergence” is needed to find a solution to the inter-state river disputes.
“NITI Aayog has definitely come up with ideas but to what level is NITI Aayog implementing its ideas is a concern. Unfortunately, it is powerless … The inter-state river dispute management Bill did come up, what happened was despite discussion in the Lok Sabha it could not see the light of the day.
“The Bill lapsed and today we are back to square one. So this is where I feel that Modi ji’s government, the express reforms, they need to come in here,” he emphasised The BRS MP argued that solutions have to be found to the inter-state river disputes because unless the river waters are settled, the government will not be able to achieve the pace of economic growth it is looking at, as 50 per cent of the people in India are dependent on water through agriculture and other means. PTI RSN RSN ANU ANU
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