: A fair deal to the victims of the Bhopal Gas tragedy, a fitting celebration on the 150th birth anniversary year of Rabindranath Tagore and plea for better preservation of remains of the ancient Vikramshila university were among several issues raised in the Lok Sabha today.
Maintaining that the magnitude of those affected by the gas disaster was “five times more” than estimated in the rehabilitation plan, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury (Congress) asked the government to take a fresh look at the situation and, along with the state government, work out plans to provide relief to the victims.
Raising the issue during Zero Hour, he said lakhs of victims were still recuperating from the effects of the poisonous Methyl Iso-cyanate gas and compensation claims of many were to be settled even 25 years after the 1984 tragedy.
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Observing that 2010 would be the 150th birth anniversary of Tagore, Gurudas Dasgupta (CPI) urged the government to set up a national committee, headed by the Prime Minister, and evolve a national plan to celebrate this event in a befitting manner.
He said Tagore was a poet and a social activist who stood against all forces of division and fundamentalism and shaped and influenced national history. “His thoughts are as relevant today as before”. Mr. Dasgupta was supported by CPI(M)’s Basudeb Acharia and other Left members.