NEW DELHI: The former Prime Minister, V.P. Singh, on Thursday blamed the Government for the police firing at Seelampur in Delhi. The Centre must make suitable amendments in the Constitution to save the livelihood of lakhs of traders and their employees, who were facing closure of commercial establishments in the wake of the sealing drive, he said.

Compensation

Mr. Singh demanded a judicial inquiry into the Wednesday firing so that guilty police officers could be prosecuted. He also sought Rs. 5 lakh compensation for those killed and monetary help for the injured. "The police firing was unnecessary and could have been avoided by postponing the ongoing sealing drive, particularly when the Government knew that the situation was volatile in the city. Now, police are making arrests on a large scale at Seelampur and nearby areas. The police should not arrest innocent people or harass residents."

Holding successive Governments responsible for the present situation, he said the Government was powerful enough to make laws and implement them. "In the past also, several amendments have been made in the Constitution to meet the needs of the people and to suit ground realities. The Government's dharma is to rehabilitate people and not to uproot them. When the Centre had issued notifications for regularising shops, it should not have gone ahead with the sealing."

Mr. Singh alleged that the powerful builder and shopping mall lobby was behind the sealing drive.

While he was not against shopping malls, the Government should also save the livelihood of small neighbourhood traders. "Why make lakhs of people jobless when the Government cannot provide them succour? In its election manifesto, the Congress had promised to help traders and slum dwellers, but now it was doing exactly the opposite. First, the Government failed to develop commercial areas and give enough shops to residents. Now, it was sealing them by blatantly ignoring the ground realities."

Land for displaced

He demanded a one-year moratorium on the demolition of slums in the capital and land for the displaced persons.

"The Centre should immediately pass the All-India Slum Act to help lakhs of slum-dwellers living in various parts of the country. The unrest against such wrong policies is not just confined to cities but spreading to rural and tribal areas. It is an alarming situation that needs immediate attention," Mr. Singh said.

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