The Lok Sabha today passed the Telecome Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) Amendment Bill, 2014 by a voice vote after negating a Statutory Resolution moved by Congress and Trinamool Congress.
Members belonging to Congress, RJD and Left parties staged a walkout protesting against the Bill and said they were dissatisfied over the Minister’s reply.
Replying to the discussion IT and Communication Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the government has brought the Amendment Bill only to remove anomaly on the bar over the re-employment of a full-time TRAI
Chairman and its Members.
He rejected the opposition allegation that the government has any hidden agenda in the appointment. He said no one has raised any objection against the concerned officer. The Minister reiterated that the government is fully committed to uphold the dignity of Parliament.
Earlier, participating in the discussion on the bill, Mallikarjun
Kharge, Congress, criticized the way the ordinance was promulgated and said his party was not against the particular officer. He said the BJP had been opposing the promulgation of ordinances on several issues including Food Security and anti-corruption issues.
Trinamool Congress and AIADMK members have, however, supported the Bill saying Prime Minister is authorized to appoint any one as his Principle Secretary for the smooth functioning of the government. Participating in a discussion on the bill, AIADMK Thambidurai said that the new government has every legal right for appointing officers of its choice. Sudip Bandopadhyaya of the TMC also echoed a similar view. He said the government is entitled to bring any bill and promulgate ordinances to remove hindrances in the way of appointments. Rajiv Pratap Rudy of the BJP justified move by the government. He said the government has the right to correct the anomalies in the law. He cited the provisions in different regulatory authorities of various sectors.
He said the government has brought this amendment to correct anomaly in the TRAI Act. Mr Rudy said the move by the government gives a clear-cut message to the bureaucracy that merit alone is the criterion to serve the government.
Earlier, the Statutory Resolution disapproving the Ordinance, Adhir
Ranjan Chowdhury of the Congress said the promulgation of the ordinance for appointment was not desirable as there was no extraordinary situation. He said this kind of move should be avoided.
The TRAI Amendment bill aims at removing the restriction on the
re-employment of a person who served as Chairman or a full-time member of the TRAI after demiting the office. The Ordinance was issued on 28th of May. The move was opposed by several members who alleged that the amendment has been brought to facilitate one officer.
