Lok Sabha members, including those from the ruling BJP, on Wednesday expressed their concern over restrictions on construction near defence enclaves and establishments, thereby causing hardship to the civilian population living in nearby areas.
In response, the government said the Defence Ministry was in discussion on revising the no-objection guidelines without jeopardising national security.
The issue was first raised by BJP member from Mumbai North Gopal Shetty. He said residents of his constituency were facing hardship to even renovate their houses as it was close to a naval colony and the Navy didn’t allow even though other wings of the armed forces allowed minor constructions.
“The Prime Minister talked about one nation, one law. The Army gives permission to construct, the Air Force gives permission to construct but the Navy doesn’t,” said Mr. Shetty in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Congress’s Shashi Tharoor and Shiv Sena’s Rahul Shiwale raised similar concerns over restrictions on civilian constructions.
“I am unable to repair my house because of restrictions. I am an MP and my father was a naval officer... but I am unable to repair my own house,” Mr. Shewale said. The government should “define what is national security,” he added.
As the junior Defence Minister Shripad Naik couldn’t provide satisfactory answers, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who had served as Defence Minister in the previous NDA government, answered on behalf of the government.
“There are projects that are getting clearances. After 2017, as many as 22 proposals related to Mumbai were received, and out of them, only one is under examination. Seven projects were given permission”, she said, responding to supplementaries in place of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh who was not present.
BJP member, Tapir Gao from Arunachal Pradesh, also demanded better compensation for the local people who gave away their land for defence establishments in the State.
Plea to clear old cases
Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said his Ministry had requested all High Courts to clear immediately 10-year-old cases to bring down the pendency of cases. More than 43 lakh cases were pending in 25 High Courts and over 8 lakh of these were over a decade old.
“I would take this opportunity to again request Chief Justices of all High Courts to immediately dispose of cases which are pending for 10 years,” he said and added that justice delivery was the principal domain of the judges while the government could strengthen the infrastructure.
‘Bias against Chhattisgarh’
Congress leader in the House Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury alleged that the Centre was discriminating against Chhattisgarh while procuring paddy for the Central pool. “The Centre is procuring paddy from many other States but not from Chhattisgarh,” he said and asked if the fault of the people was to elect a Congress government.
Santosh Pandey, BJP member from the State, hit back, alleging that the Congress is now making excuses after promising higher remunerative price to farmers to win the Assembly elections last year.
