The “political deadlock over the land acquisition (law) is seriously impacting rural development, including the creation of schools, hospitals, roads and irrigation projects, says Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while appealing to leaders of the opposition to set aside political considerations so that they do not come in the way of a solution that would facilitate development of rural areas, and bring greater prosperity for farmers.
So will he be listened to?
The monsoon session of Parliament begins tomorrow. But, the fear is that it will be the Sushma Swaraj's, the Lalit Modi's, the Pankaja Munde's, the Shivraj Chauhan 's etc, etc that will dominate proceedings as against the many important bills and amendments that need urgent attention and application of consensus.
We have no special affinity for the Sushma Swaraj's, the Lalit Modi's, the Pankaja Munde's, or the Shivraj Chavan's and we endorse the conviction that if they have wronged, they should be punished. But cannot this be done outside the August House. We have competent law enforcing agencies and amongst the best judicial systems in the world. Can we not leave upon them the onus to investigate and punish if any impropriety is found?
Perhaps, these issues can be debated and discussed in both the August Houses of Parliament and then forwarded for further perusal. And then serious issues of national interest can be taken up for discussion, debate and if deemed fit rejection too. Already, around 65 bills remain pending in both houses of Parliament from the last session — 12 in the Lok Sabha and as many as 53 in the Rajya Sabha. These need to be addressed urgently.
Presently, many economic issues also need to be tackled on a war footing. One must not forget that while India stands a few notches above other global economies, the global economy as a whole remains fragile and under severe strain. Any disruption there could have a cascading effect on India too and, therefore, these have to be preempted. That can only be done through the acceleration of the reforms process. Else the concerns could cumulate into a disaster on the national front.
As of now, India’s citizens can only hope that, our Honourable Parliamentarians will take note of the gravity of the situation and instead of scoring political brownie points, adopt a no-nonsense approach towards the serious businesses that require the attention and endorsements of the house…this just for the sake of India's best interest.