NEW DELHI: Parliament Tuesday approved amendment to the constitution to enable the government extend president’s rule in the northern state of Punjab by another six months beyond May 11.
The Rajya Sabha (upper house) passed the constitution (75th amendment) bill Tuesday morning seeking extension of the president’s rule by 155 votes to four after a near one hour discussion.
The Lok Sabha (lower house) had passed the bill on Monday without any discussion.
Former premier Vishwanath Pratap Singh’s National Front parliamentarians and members of the communist parties and Assam Gana Parishad were not present at the time of voting.
Replying to brief discussion minister of state for home affairs Subodh Kant Sahay said the government was keen to hold elections in the trouble torn state and was working in that direction.
The government he said was compelled to seek extension of the president’s rule beyond May 11 in view of extraordinary situation.
Sahay said there had been a visible improvement in law and order in Punjab and no case of bank robbery had been reported from there in February.
He agreed with some members that the bureaucracy had got a vested interest in the state but said that the government was taking steps to check it.
He defended the deployment of army in the state and said it was not indulging in day to day administration through there might have been one or two cases of stray incidents of army excesses on civilians due to misunderstanding.
Sahay also defended the recent government action taken against some newspapers for printing press releases and other statements issued by militants saying that though the government was committed to freedom of the press it did not want press and the electronic media to come down under threats of militants.
Article extracted from this publication >> March 15, 1991
