New Delhi: Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi Friday, proposed that the Parliament discuss the issue of air pollution in cities with a solution-centric bipartisan approach, instead of indulging in politics of blame often seen during debates.
Gandhi, during Zero Hour, said that most Indian cities are shrouded in a blanket of poisonous air, leading to the suffering of millions of children and the elderly, many of whom are “getting cancer” and whose “future is being destroyed”.
“I am certain that there will be full agreement between the government and us (the opposition) on this issue. This is not an ideological issue. Everybody in this House would agree that air pollution, the damage it is doing to our people, is something that we would like to cooperate on,” Gandhi said.
He said it is important for the government to develop a plan to get rid of air pollution, and the Opposition would readily extend its cooperation.
“There are not many issues these days that the government and the opposition, the entire opposition, can agree on…Everybody says the government and the opposition are fighting all the time. This is one issue where we can show the country that we can also plan and work together to solve something that is critical,” he said.
Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju responded to Gandhi, welcoming his suggestion, saying that members, both from the Opposition and the government, had already raised the issue at meetings of the Business Advisory Committee that draws up the agenda of the House.
“The government, from day one, has made its position very clear that on all important matters, it is ready to discuss and also to find a solution, taking along the suggestions from all the members, including the principal opposition party led by Rahul Gandhi. We will come back and let us see how we can structure the discussion, and then we will be ready to take up this matter,” Rijiju said.
Gandhi repeatedly emphasised ensuring that any debate on the issue is not marked by the usual acrimony between the treasury and Opposition benches, “where we are abusing you, and you are abusing us.”
“I think a good idea would be that we frame the discussion not on us saying what you have not done, and not on you saying what we have not done, but simply saying what we are going to do for the people in India in the future. I would say that it will be an interesting experiment to see if, instead of you blaming us and we blaming you, we can try and say, on this one issue, where we agree, there is no disagreement, where we say, listen, let us just talk about the future,” said the Congress MP.
Gandhi ended by saying that the discussion should be followed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi putting in place a methodical and systematic plan for each city on how, within the next five or ten years, the issue can at least be reduced to a degree, if not fully resolved.
(Edited by Insha Jalil Waziri)